My sister and some of her neighbors started having yard decorations, door wreaths and the like stolen a couple of years back. Reports to their local city police were basically brushed off with a 'we'll look into it'. Little Sis, being the ever persistent type, kept bugging the police, including driving through neighborhoods looking for a big fancy 'one-of'' door wreath she made herself that was stolen off her front door. She had photos of it too. She found it on the other side of town hanging on the the front door of a house along with some other things her neighbors had stolen from their yards and porches.
She notified police that she'd located where the stolen items were but they still seemed to be dragging their feet about doing anything to recover them. Sis went and knocked on the door and recovered her wreath herself face to face from the mother of the young woman who took it. Finally shamed the police into coming and talking to the thief and recovering the rest of the stolen things.
As it turned out the thief was a young single female public school teacher that a few policemen were 'friendly' with.
