The article is from a site called “Police Mag” and quotes NYPD representatives. I would take what they say about how successful, fair, and justly enforced these stings were with a grain of salt.

It literally says they stop-and-frisk if the “perpetrator” didn’t immediately return the wallet to the officer. On a crowded street or subway, it’s very possible to see a wallet on the ground and not see who dropped it, and now you’re getting pulled into one of the most bullshit warrantless search practices of modern policing?