Question For The Cops

I drive on the New York State Thruway from time to time (not every day, but maybe once a week) and the speed limit out there is 65 MPH. I've learned over the years that as long as you stay 75 MPH and under, the police won't stop you for speeding. Get much over that and you might find yourself with a hefty fine and points on your license. BTW, the road is patrolled almost exclusively by the New York State Police, a group for whom, on the whole, I have a lot of respect. (For those of you outside of New York State, be advised that New York has a large number of state troopers and our roads are more heavily patrolled than in a lot of states.)

Now on to my story and my point. Yesterday I was driving on the Thruway just east of Syracuse and I'm doing my usual 74 MPH (according to my speedometer), in the left lane passing another vehicle, when I look in my rear view mirror and here comes a State Trooper moving up on me at a pretty quick rate. He does not have any lights flashing and no siren wailing, but even still, he's a cop and I'm not, so I pulled back into the right lane as soon as it was safe, and he roared on past me. I'm no expert, but I'd say he was doing in excess of 80 MPH.

Now my question is this - if it's not safe for ME to drive that fast, and if I can be ticketed for driving at that speed, why can HE do it? Does he somehow think that there's less traffic for him? Or that he's a better driver? Or that he needs to get home from work sooner than I do?

I understand it in case of emergency (code 3?), but for just a drive down the road? The law should be the same for everyone. When there's a class of people who set themselves above everyone else, it leads to problems (look at the bankers and the situation they've caused in our world).

Can someone explain?