Living in London, if anything the police lean towards not looking at enough surveillance video rather than too much. There are not many police doing this compared to the number or crimes. I had my phone snatched in central London and mistakenly ran to the nearest police station thinking they might go after them. But no - sit and wait an hour or two, fill a form. I said it was outside a business with a camera but they wouldn't apply to the owner and go through the vids because it was too much work.

Funnily enough they did have a look at bus footage - apparently all London busses have cameras - in spite of me saying there wasn't a bus near at the time. Guess that was easier for them to get.