That depends-- it's not a great idea to confront a thief, but I think there's at least a fraction of the population that would walk on for a bit & then call th

That depends-- it's not a great idea to confront a thief, but I think there's at least a fraction of the population that would walk on for a bit & then call the police, and if there's a unit in the area it might at least take a drive-by. Or the thief might be unlucky and have a cop stumble on their effort. So, yes, destructive lock removal can still be fairly safe for the thief, but there is still a lot of increased risk if you employ a proper lock that would require an angle grinder, and most thieves probably don't bother to carry around tools like that and will simply move on to one of many ample opportunities for an easier target: A handheld compound bolt cutter will cut through inferior locks faster than opening with a key, so why bother bringing bulkier more obvious tools that increase risk even a little bit? It's not about whether your bike can be stolen: it almost certainly can. It's about making other targets more attractive.