Is tracking software -- the kind users install named "Find My iPhone" or "Find My Android." In anticipation of the day when their device may be stolen or lost.
Here in Seattle, WA, the police are also responding to a great surge in these theft calls. The reason is simple: if they do not respond, the owner might take the law into his or her own hands (or the hands of their posse, in some cases). The police would rather intervene and not have people get into such risky situations.
Otherwise, the usual response to property crime of such a low value would be to take a report and move on. A detective would not be assigned to a lost $600 item. A recovery would not occur. The stolen item would be gone.
With owner-installed Find My [Property] using GPS + Cloud applications, law enforcement is being moved into a citizen-responsive mode. The "dispatching detectives" are the citizen running a web app, reporting the location of the stolen item. The radio transmission relays some information along the lines of, "victim has tracked the item to a particular building and believes he can hear it ringing upon his command." And the police units are on the way post haste to intervene on that potential scenario.
The same is happening with Android, but to a reduced extent. Some cheap-o Android devices are no doubt not tracked. Possibly the user experience for person who lose their smart phone is discrepant between platforms.
At least one moving "stolen" phone I heard a report of turned out to be in the back seat of a taxi. That is where it had been lost the night before. There were multiple police chasing the location reports around while the citizen in the GPS-web loop called the moves... Eventually the taxi they were following became apparent and the case was solved.
Meanwhile, if I lost a Fluke Scopemeter (hypothetical possession; please send me one), I would be out a $2400 portable meter. It does not have a Find My Flukemeter that I could otherwise use to pursue asset using dynamics.
If the robbery was an armed robbery and the victim can identify the suspect later, the police are proactive in using the same tracking software to collar the perpetrator for the major crime.