I recall an incident in Fort Worth at the fed building some years ago. Seems they were doing some work in the basement which housed parking. It meant changing the traffic flow so one had to enter the exit ramp. Some federal rent a cop was sitting behind a pillar and as cars came in down the entry ramp which was marked closed, he would ticket them. That went on till he ticketed some fed judge who asked what the hell he was doing and why he was not just directing traffic down the correct ramp rather than playing undercover cop. The judge called the fed supervisor of the cop and told him about his concerns adding I will void those tickets as ridicules. I howled when I heard that story.
That is a funny story with a happy ending.
I bet many police officers do stuff like this. Every day when I am drive they are going 80+ mph, but if I did that, I would get a $250 ticket. They are often on their phones too.
The only “theft” that took place was the $128 fine by the police officer.