Definition: In this task, you will be presented with a passage and have to answer a question based on your understanding of the events inferred from the passage. Try to find the best answer that is most likely to fill in "_". Note that the URLs in the text have been replaced with [Link].
Input: Beaming with joy, they nestle gently in the arms of their doting father. But today Abigail, seven, and Sophie, three, are mourning his murder at the hands of a coward. David Phillips, a 34-year-old police constable, was run over and killed trying to stop burglars escaping in a stolen car. Relatives say his wife Jennifer, 28, and daughters are devastated – Abigail burst into tears when she was told. ‘It just feels unreal,’ said Marion Smith, Jennifer’s grandmother. ‘We knew sometimes his job could be difficult, but he never complained and always took it in his stride. Abigail and Sophie adored him, they were real daddy’s girls. They would always play together.PC David Phillips was deliberately hit by burglars driving a stolen truckMerseyside police officer, 34, married with two daughters, aged 7 and 3Driver aimed at the police officer who was standing on central reservationSuspects then drove off and abandoned stolen red Mitsubishi truckPolice say he 'didn't stand a chance' and launch murder investigation to hunt for suspects 
 Question:But they did not think it was unusual because thousands of similar crimes are committed on _ every year.

Merseyside