videos once showed a fellow out to see what people would do if they saw a bike thief cutting a lock. He stole his own bike, cut locks blatantly in busy areas and campuses. No one cared, and one guy stopped to help. This was in the lower East Side of Manhattan.
One can disable a U lock in seconds if you're so determined to do so.
We toured the ASU Tempe campus with our boys. Bikes of all kinds everywhere. No.1 crime is bike theft. Saw bikes vandalized and stripped. The guide's advice was to not bring a nice desirable bike.