[conductr]

If they're standing on a public sidewalk, not trespassing, and all they're doing is holding some video equipment... then what is the basis of the cops confrontation in the first place? Is there some probable cause to believe the cop needs to do any of those things you mentioned? Why is the cop getting involved? The root of the whole issue is that cops are over-policing. They need to know when to just leave people alone because they're not doing anything illegal or really even suspicious in most cases. The cops just want to be bully's and control every situation even if unconstitutionally.

There's dozens (hundreds?) of unenforced laws on the books. I'm sure it varies by jurisdiction (where I live, using your turn signal is optional and cops would never pull you over for failure to signal- it's effectively unheard of.) Point being, cops can decided when to police and when not to police. Recording them at work seems to be a line they do not like people to cross and they don't really care if it's constitutionally protected or not.