I doubt if he needed to crowd that close. In fact if he wasn't a cop, and a cop was watching, he could have been pulled over for following too close. What if a dog jumped in front of my son's car?
I have often been tailgated by police, and I agree that it is dangerous. However, it is common, and I never felt like I was being deliberately goaded. At worst, they may have been hoping for me to make a mistake. Usually, they just hang out for a couple of minutes and then pass (driving well above the speed limit, I might add, if we are going to enumerate all of the moving violations regularly committed by the police).
And, I wish police would fine people for tailgating. I've never seen it happen.
I guess it depends on intent (and your perspective). I have never felt there was any malicious intent . . . they just seemed to be checking me out before going on to the next car. Maybe I am naive, but I think that assuming the cops are out to get you is a bad place to start from.
