You've apparently never tried to report a stolen wallet or backpack, or even modest laptop. You fill out forms, answer questions,a nd they do _nothing_. It's just not important enough.
But at least you get the report form, needed to claim damages from your insurance company.
And if the stolen item does happen to fall into their lap, you do get it back. Case in point: my father got his wallet stolen in Lissabon, reported it to the police, and a couple of months later, he got it back.
What happens usually with wallets is that the thieves are "only" interested in the cash, and throw away the wallet (along with papers "useless" to them) as soon as possible (because it's dangerous to them to have id papers on them, which are not theirs). Eventually, somebody finds the wallet (because the thiefs don't bother with properly putting it into the trash, but rather throw it into the nearest bush or whatever), and brings it to the police... which then can send it back to you, if they've got a report on file.