Local activist Christina Gonzalez is a tireless opponent of the NYPD's controversial stop-and-frisk program, and has repeatedly confronted individual officers, camera in hand, when she suspects they're overstepping their authority. Which is often. She's become such a ubiquitous presence that the NYPD distributed fliers to officers describing her as a "professional agitator" and warning cops that she "video tapes officers... to portray officers in a negative way and to deter officers from conducting their responsibilities…Do not feed into subject's propaganda." It looks like cops are getting the message.

On Sunday night, Gonzalez confronted several cops in the West 4th Street subway station. The video, below, shows her demanding to know why she was told (by officers on MetroCard machine detail) she can't take video with her cell phone. After one officer refuses to answer her while she's recording him, she follows him down to the platform and proceeds to harangue a handful of cops, demanding their badge numbers. But instead of throwing her to the floor, smashing her phone, and arresting her on some bogus disorderly conduct charge, one officer tries to have a calm and rational conversation. Skip ahead to the 6:10 mark to see our nomination for Shockingly Courteous Cop of the Year:

Yeah, it goes on and on—there's a lot of yelling, but it is noteworthy to watch an interaction between an irate protester and a cop who's actually willing to have a reasonable conversation. But toward the end he finally gives up and says, "You don't want to have a conversation. You just want to scream." We asked Gonzalez about the confrontation, and she shared her point of view with us: