That doesn't sound entirely far-fetched. In the neighborhood I grew up in, there were about 4 or 5 different neighbors who worked for the police over the years

That doesn't sound entirely far-fetched. In the neighborhood I grew up in, there were about 4 or 5 different neighbors who worked for the police over the years and I distinctly remember three of them giving either my father or brother similar advice. A friend of my older brother later went on to become a police officer and bought a house three houses down from my parents. He actually mentioned to my sister that if any of us needed out of a ticket, to give him a call. My father, being reckless as he is, would often get tickets that would be dismissed. Every time he would wind up mowing the lawns of the neighborhood police or otherwise doing some handiwork or helping fix a car or something similar. He flat out told me the cops would talk to their fellow officers and the tickets would be dropped per discretion of the officer. Somewhat related, many of my friends I went to school with went on to join various branches of military. A while back he told me how a police officer noticed a military decal of the truck and flat out told him he wouldn't give him a ticket because of it. It is all just anecdotal "evidence", but officers are humans just like you and I and will certainly do things to their benefit, like letting off someone who makes donations to a cause that benefits them. Is it really a stretch to extend the more or less "We protect our own" mentality to rich donors?