[nibbleshifter]

A lost warrant card (the police badge in question) is a pretty huge deal apparently.

You are correct though that stolen phones are deemed low priority, the term used for it is "volume crime".

"Why don't the police use findmy" comes up nearly weekly on the /r/policeuk subreddit. Same answer every time - too inaccurate for a warrant, not enough priority to put the work in to develop further evidence to pursue a warrant.