“Because I want you to go away and not stand here and argue with me. Otherwise you’re about to get locked up.”

That’s a police sergeant in Suffolk County, N.Y., bullying a journalist named Philip Datz, who in July 2011 tried to film the aftermath of a police chase in Bohemia, on Long Island, from a public sidewalk across the street.

The confrontation played out in the usual way. Mr. Datz objected. He was arrested. He sued. The Police Department defended itself.



But Mr. Datz also put the video on YouTube.

The Suffolk County Legislature approved a settlement on Tuesday. Mr. Datz gets $200,000 for his unlawful arrest. The Suffolk Police Department is going to train and test all of its officers in some basic concepts involving the First Amendment. That is: the public and the media have the right to watch, photograph and record what police officers do in public.

It’s an expensive lesson for Suffolk, which already pays a lot for its highly compensated cops. But even a six-figure salary is no guarantee of professionalism. Mr. Datz’s video is evidence of the corrupting effects of power, and an inspiring lesson in the unmaking of a thick-headed bully with a badge and a gun.

It’s pretty simple. Cops are supposed to protect civil rights, not trample them. A sergeant — a supervisor! — should never say this to a peaceable citizen who is doing his best to stay out of his way: “You understand. I’ve been doing this for years. There is nothing you can hold over my head or anybody out there. Go away.”

Score another one for the Constitution. And citizen videos.