DC has a law against using a handheld device while driving. Several of my freinds have received tickets for driving while using a phone there. I see cops several times a day talking on their phones while driving their cruisers. It's OK as long as it's "police business".

http://wtop.com/?nid=596&sid=1689445

They claim there's no way to tell if any officer has been ticketed.  Seems to me that's a bit of information the PD ought to know, how many moving violations an officer receives.  There should be a tick on the ticket for "violator is is a cop," perhaps not in those words.

What kind of lousy database do these guys have for tickets, anyway?  Seems like a sort/merge should take care of the problem.

I would think that this is a mandatory and routine part  of every officer's annual performance evaluation and is part of his personnel file, hence confidential/unavailable to public scrutiny. There are rules for divulging what is considered to be union/management contractual information. I would also bet a substantial sum that it is in each officer's file and is an important subject at personnel review time or when ever a serious accusation is made concerning any officer's conduct. That said, it is extremely rare that one officer tags another officer unless ordered to do so, and rest assured that would be a case of a campaign to create grounds for dismissal for other more serious cause.
Just how many times and how serious each traffic incident is when ever a police vehicle is damaged or destroyed is in each personnel docket is certainly recorded!
 On a parallel theme, I can vouch that every commercial driver's record is in the insurance company association [bureau] files, and they have much to say about who is hired and who is kept on payroll regards losses and claims. This information is not public, but is shared amongst companies and leasing agencies regarding both equipment and cargo. Where the comparison ends is where bigger government entities provide their own insurance, or where vehicles are purchased rather than leased by governments.
 And a further red herring thought, the bailout of Gen. Mtrs. and Chrysler has ramifications going back to government leasing policies on vehicles. The biggest leasors to the federal governments are...includes the 2 Generals!

I think cell phone use must fall into the same category as some traffic offenses, like speeding and running red lights.

In many jurisdictions, cops aren't specifically exempted from all traffic laws but it is assumed by most reasonable people we'd all prefer they got to where they're going in a hell of a hurry when it's an emergency, so screw the traffic laws!

Now, there's no way to know if a cop who breaks a traffic law is in a hurry to get to a shooting or to pick up lunch. We just have to trust them. I think it's probably the same with cell phones, only a little less urgent in nature.