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Don’t get me wrong. I think the whole thing was shady but...
just because the prosecutor did not see being able to successfully prosecute the case, it doesn’t mean they or somebody doesn’t see probable cause for the citation. This is one of those things where the cop may earnestly believe he was correct and if so, it’s not terribly likely filing a complaint would do much of anything.
While I agree that the police are entitled to their own personal opinions off the clock, when they are making the decision to ticket/arrest someone, they need to make sure that all of their decision making bases are covered with actual evidence and probable cause. In this particular case, the officer's gut feeling cost me a few hours in jail, $750 in bail, an expensive cab ride home, plus the mental stress of wondering how this was going to affect my life/job. And in the end, the DA decided that there wasn't any probable cause/evidence to merit any prosecution. If this officer has a habit of making decisions based on his personal feelings, rather then what evidence is or isn't present, then perhaps he is in need of retraining in this particular area. Regardless, I am thankful that my situation was resolved in my favor. No, the justice system is not perfect, but when it works as it is supposed to, regular law-abiding folks like myself can breathe a bit easier.
I am speaking of at work decisions. Without interrogating the guy I couldn’t say if he felt he could articulate PC or not. From what you’ve written it seems to be a stretch to me but he was there, I wasn’t.