Des Moines police face a lawsuit alleging that officers unlawfully stopped a man and seized his phone after he recorded police department employees from a public sidewalk.

The lawsuit argues that the man, Daniel Robbins of Des Moines, "was surrounded, detained and threatened with arrest" on May 10 when he recorded a Des Moines Police Department employee illegally parked in front of a "no parking" sign outside the police station on East Second Street.

The suit names the city of Des Moines and police officers Brad Youngblut, Joseph Leo and Christopher Curtis as defendants.

Robbins argues in the lawsuit that the officers violated his First and Fourth Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution, and that the city failed to properly train the officers on what his rights are when recording police. Robbins is seeking monetary damages for compensation and as a sanction on the officers' alleged conduct.

Robbins, a radio producer and journalist, alleges he was standing on East Second Street when he saw a police employee leave the police station, get into an illegally parked vehicle and drive away. Robbins began recording what he saw on his phone, the lawsuit states.

Robbins continued filming and crossed the street to stand on the sidewalk nearest to the police station, the lawsuit states. At that point, Youngblut approached Robbins in a vehicle and asked what he was doing and told him he was being "a little suspicious" because he was taking pictures of officers' personal vehicles, the lawsuit states.

Other officers, including Curtis and Leo, approached Robbins and asked what he was doing. He said "I'm taking pictures because it is perfectly legal for me to be taking pictures," according to the lawsuit. Robbins declined to give his name or produce an ID when asked.

Robbins alleges the officers continued to say he was behaving suspiciously and that Leo told him he was loitering. Police also told him that cars have been stolen out of the parking lot he was observing, Robbins says in the suit.

Robbins alleges police took his Samsung Galaxy phone and a Canon camera, stopped his recording, then patted him down and searched his pockets. After several minutes, police let him go without citing him or arresting him. Robbins says police told him he was trespassing at the police headquarters.

Gary Dickey, an attorney at Dickey & Campbell who is representing Robbins, said in a news release that citizens have a constitutional right to film law enforcement from public sidewalks if they are not interfering with official acts.

"When citizens have to worry about police retaliation, they are less likely to exercise these constitutional rights and democracy suffers as a result," Dickey said.

Dickey & Campbell filed the suit on Robbins' behalf along with Downey & Mundy Law Offices, the release states.

Sgt. Paul Parizek, a spokesman for the Des Moines Police Department, said there would be an internal review of the officers' behavior to investigate the allegations in the lawsuit, including claims that vehicles were illegally parked and that Robbins' was improperly detained and his property was seized.

Parizek said it would have been an "easy fix" for Robbins to report a complaint about the employee he saw illegally parked, rather than filming the person.

"If he had a complaint about an employee that was parked illegally, that’s a simple fix for us. Walk in the front door, tell us about that employee and we’ll handle it from there," he said.

Parizek said it was reasonable for officers to ask Robbins for his name and his reason for recording by the police station.

"We had a civilian female employee getting into her personal car when she saw a guy video taping her," Parizek said. "Obviously for reasons that are self-explanatory that made her very uncomfortable."

He said that although a crime was not reported, police were investigating a call about suspicious activity as they would have if someone had called from a private business.

"Let me put it in perspective: if I were to go up to any public building and stand on the sidewalk lawfully and take video of their female employees coming and going from their personal vehicle, I don’t think the impression I would leave those ladies with was that I was exercising my rights," Parizek said.

The lawsuit is the latest against the city's police. Another suit filed in August accuses officers of racial profiling. Civil rights groups are pushing a law that would ban that practice.

Other lawsuits include one against two former Des Moines officers who resigned after officials said they planted methamphetamine on a suspect in 2015. One of the officers, Tyson Teut, pleaded guilty in June to non-felonious misconduct in office and was sentenced to probation.

In another lawsuit, a man alleges his constitutional rights were violated when a Des Moines police officer with a history of excessive force attacked him in his home after he called the police for help.