Both radar and laser have strengths and weaknesses from an enforcer's point of view, which is why it's good to have both. Sometimes you'd rather slow people down than catch someone, such as in a school zone, so many times we'd park in an obvious spot, maybe even turn on the overheads, set the radar on stationary, click the ECM off "standby", and let 'er rip to set off as many detectors as we could. Amazingly, even being as obvious as possible, we'd still occasionally get someone blowing through at 15 or 20 over.
One of the main advantages of laser (aka LIDAR) is that "leader of the pack" means nothing since, as opposed to radar, laser is a pinpoint device. Look through the sight, put the little red dot on the target (usually the front bumper, but it works going away, too), and pull the trigger. The beam is emitted only while the trigger is held down or until you get a lock (a double beep on the laser unit I'm familiar with). "Clock and lock" is usually obtained in a second or less, and if it's not a "keeper", shoot the next one, and keep working your way up the line. Unless the cosine is too great from your chosen shooting location, you can even get the ones speeding up the "slow" lane who think they're safe from being clocked from the center median esp on three or more lane roadways or if they hide behind other traffic. That tactic can work as a countermeasure against radar, but probably not vs. laser.
Typically a LIDAR clock takes place at ranges of 1,800 - 2,000 feet or more depending on sight lines and other conditions, so usually by the time you even see the officer he's already shooting well past you if you weren't a keeper, or just waiting for you to get there if you are.
The best places to clock with laser if there is steady traffic are those stretches of road that have a slight bend or downgrade to help you see past or over the closer traffic. Basically, if you can see it and it's moving directly toward or away from you, you can pinpoint it and clock it with laser.
As for so-called laser "detectors", the LIDAR beam is very narrow and is aimed at the most perpendicular part of the vehicle, usually the front license plate or bumper. In other words, the chances of the beam hitting a detector on your dashboard are pretty small, and even if it does, you're probably already toast before you can react if your speed was "out of tolerance". Operators will generally avoid pinpointing the windshield or any other area of the vehicle but the front (or rear) bumper while the trigger is pulled to prevent stray, unnecessary beams from setting off a detector. I had many violators ask me how I managed to clock them since their detector never went off, but the reason it never went off was because I was careful to not "illuminate" likely detector locations.