kingdragonfly: Just to be clear, when I started this thread, my intended primary audience was the police, and "of interest" to the laymen, who may have suggested it to the police, or even donated equipment.

I was hoping perhaps some off-duty police officers would read this thread, and perhaps use the US idea of actively catching criminals instead of reacting to crimes.

The police uses of "bait packages" are similar to the use of "bait-bikes" and "bait-cars." It's done by law-enforcement professional, knowing that even catching a criminal on a "bait-bike" is dangerous for everyone.

I can understand everyone's frustration at property crime, in particular the mom-and-pop businesses robberies.

I know what I think should be done about crime, as I'm sure everyone has their own ideas.

But this thread has rapidly devolved.

I don't think you understand how policing works. Off duty police on GZ are exceptionally unlikely to be able to single handedly change an approach to policing. The decision makers who decide how these things are managed are likely to be aware of this, or reports and white papers and research and will balance budgets, with numbers of police and then work out the most effective way to police. 

In summary, I think GZ as good as it is, isn't a good place to be posting if you want to affect the policing style of NZ.