You may be right. Then again, from personal experience and from anecdotes from clients who at one time in their lives were police officers, you may be wrong.
It has been explained to me that there are frequent periods when on duty patrol officers get bored, especially late on the swing shift or on graveyard. It has further been explained to me that many jurisdictions require patrol officers who normally respond to calls for possible criminal behavior are told to write a few traffic citations per week even though that is not their primary duty. One way to alleviate boredom and to comply with the watch commander's order to write a few cites is to be on the lookout for traffic violations that may lead to more serious charges like DUI or possession of unlawful substances.
From personal experience: I was driving home on a back road around 10:00 one night with cruise control in my ICE (this was 2005-6) pegged at 56 MPH in a 55. I had not been drinking. From out of the blue a car speeds up behind me and tailgates. I slowly speed up to 60, and the car is still on my ass. I then slow down to 50 to allow the car to pass me more safely. Still on my tail. I then speed slowly up to 61 and presto! the lights come on. I said nothing to the officers, signed my promise to appear, and went on my not-so-merry way.
At trial (I did not hire a lawyer), after the officer testified that he was parked on a side road and clocked me whizzing by at 66/55, he pulled out and noticed that I slowed down to 63 when I saw his headlights behind me. He pulled me over and wrote me up for 61. Upon cross-examination I provided my video camera of my speedometer (once I saw what was happening I started recording) slowly increasing, then decreasing, then increasing my speed. I showed it to the judge and the officer, and the cop turned beet red.
The judge then asked to clear the court room. Fifteen minutes later, we were permitted to return. The officer was nowhere to be found in the courtroom. The judge apologized for the officer's perjury, and dismissed my citation. As I left, I spoke to the bailiff, part of the sheriff's department. He said that when he was part of that other agency, he learned from his training officer and fellow veterans a couple of tricks to write up otherwise law-abiding drivers for moving violations. He further said that my case was not the first of its type when he was acting as bailiff. He then said that the cop was sitting in a holding cell stripped of his badge and gun belt awaiting his captain to retrieve him.
What was particularly galling was that about one year later, I asked the department if that officer who played games and perjured himself was still employed as a peace officer. He was. So, if a cop can commit perjury, why is he permitted to keep his job as a sworn peace officer?
