[stcredzero]

I had heard that the police in Washington state in the 90's used to leave sets of rims in the back of pickup trucks parked on the side of the road as a means of honey-trapping thieves. I also heard the cops referred to it as a time-saving measure. "Entrapment?" That's stealing, plain and simple!

Anyhow, how would that be different than someone walking out of a building with any other piece of a school's or a hackerspace's equipment? What are they going to tell a judge: "It was an unattended laptop. I had to steal it!"

[diminoten]

The key word in your first sentence was "the police".

[stcredzero]

An unattended laptop in such an environment is not an inducement to steal. All that's happening is that a particular piece of equipment is secured a bit more than usual.