Telling the police that you can't pop the hood doesn't work. Trust me. They will impound the car if they feel you are running illegal and are purposely hiding s**t. Been there with a buddy and we wound up calling for a ride and he had to pay the impound fees, tow fees, PLUS the fines from the officer AND the tow fees out because he couldn't drive it away...all because he was trying to be hard and tried to resist.
Same thing as telling them that you can't pop the trunk if they think you are hiding something back there. They will find a way in one way or another or they will impound the car, get a warrant, and do it that way.
Relocating the cable, however is a very common thing people do to stop thieves from just gaining access to the hood through the cable running through the fender liner. No need to get into the car unless they don't know where the cable is rerouted to.
There is also the electronic popper, just like all the new cars have.