This is a link to the story of the police ticketing people who couldn't park their cars legally, when the community activists got together to discuss how to support Emily Good. There is a video at the link, showing the cars clearly violating the 12-inch rule.
I would presume that the police don't run around enforcing this rule; on the other hand, if you are going to a meeting to figure out how to get back at the police for something they did, you should probably obey the laws.
Unlike some traffic rules, the 12-inch rule is a clear, objective standard; it's not like they got ticketed for "following too close". This is like running a red light, or a stop sign "I almost completely stopped", or "the light was still yellow when I entered the intersection".
In the scope of this entire incident, placing emphasis on something so relatively trivial displays to me your genuine insincerity.
It seems as though this thread is withering but I take solice in the fact that your opinion[s], which you've shown considerable effort to articulate, are shared by but a few.