Don, imagine the scenario...Mr.A spends an afternoon on his horse hunting a fox until it is too exhausted to run. He then watches as it is shredded by the hounds. On returning to the carpark where he left his 4x4...it is gone. What does he do?

He rings the police and obtains the crime ref number for his insurance company.

Why does car theft have a crime refernece number? Because the law states it is a crime to take someones vehicle without their consent.

Nobody mentioned they expected the perpetrators to be caught, let alone convicted. But Mr.A as a victim of a crime is covered by his insurance for his loss.

How happy would Mr.A be if the police said, " Sorry old bean, we've decided not to do car crime today, try again when someone else is on duty."