I agree with Mr. Nee that police officers "are entitled to the same rights as every citizen" because they, simply, are.
I believe any individual should be allowed to record anything they please. But I also believe the distribution should be controlled by those who can be identified in the recording.
The biggest deciding factor in this case should be if the recording was interfering with keeping the peace or not. If it's a personal issue, then the Officers were acting in a personal capacity and they were abusing their power. They should handle the situation the same way I would if someone were recording me.
If I reported to the Police that someone was unlawfully recording me, what do you think they would do?
Police officers do have the same rights as every citizen when off-duty, but when they are acting as agents of the state they should be held very accountable for their malevolent actions (not mistakes, intentional ones). For instance, calling an officer a dirty name is not cause for said officer to demand identification and threaten you with arrest (happened to me when he was acting exactly like said name). Unless there are reasons for privacy, while working as agents of the state they shouldn't get any unnecessary privacy. The vast majority of (US at least) police are laudable, but not holding the bad ones accountable kills their reputation. We should be encouraging citizens to tape, not intimidating them.
You don't have the right to control any video/photo recording of yourself that's done in a public place. All you can do is cover your face and walk away.
EDIT: the person recording only needs your permission if the photo or video is going to be used to promote goods or services.
"The lawsuit argues that public places are not covered by this law."
What if they were? Could the local news do a live broadcast from the street without fear that someone would walk up behind them, shout something, and then claim that his rights had been violated?
I believe any individual should be allowed to record anything they please. But I also believe the distribution should be controlled by those who can be identified in the recording.
The biggest deciding factor in this case should be if the recording was interfering with keeping the peace or not. If it's a personal issue, then the Officers were acting in a personal capacity and they were abusing their power. They should handle the situation the same way I would if someone were recording me.
If I reported to the Police that someone was unlawfully recording me, what do you think they would do?