When my house was burgled, the cops sent out 3 cars, did a thorough inspection, took inventory of what had been stolen, and dusted for prints in places we indicated were likely to have been touched (the windowframe where they came in, some doorknobs, and the box fan they had moved). This was in Rochester's 19th Ward (New York), possibly the most dangerous and high-crime part of town.
As far as I know, they never caught anybody, but at least they tried. I'm pretty sure it was my drug-dealing neighbors two houses down... especially since the guy three houses down claims the security cameras on his porch showed them taking stuff from our house to theirs. Oh well.
Same in Paris when my brother's apartment was burgled a few months ago... 2 members of the French Scientific Police took pictures / fingerprints. I didn't think they'd go that far, having read countless stories on how this is usually handled in the US.
As far as I know, they never caught anybody, but at least they tried. I'm pretty sure it was my drug-dealing neighbors two houses down... especially since the guy three houses down claims the security cameras on his porch showed them taking stuff from our house to theirs. Oh well.