Your point is well-taken, but notice that I wasn't claiming that not investigating bike thefts is evidence of the slowdown. I doubt these thefts would be taken

Your point is well-taken, but notice that I wasn't claiming that not investigating bike thefts is evidence of the slowdown. I doubt these thefts would be taken too seriously anywhere, but I still think the work slowdown is some relevant context that people need in order to understand more about the situation.