Imagine the police people having seen their governor (who effectively is their boss, as far as I know, so he is the "hand that feeds them") repeatedly be very,

Imagine the police people having seen their governor (who effectively is their boss, as far as I know, so he is the "hand that feeds them") repeatedly be very, very protective and favorable towards Uber and the self-driving car testing program. Even if they never got an explicit order of the likes of "Courteously close your eyes when dealing with Uber!", they will be much more protective of Uber than they were if their boss was known as very critical regarding Uber. This is basic human instinct, and instinctive behavior often leads to decisions which might turn out to be obviously stupid in the long run.