(My comments below are based on the assumption that flying and filming over private property, without permission, is against the law in NY state, as it is in the U.K.).
As much as I agree with the points being made here, if you listen right to the end of the video it becomes apparent that the drone operators and supporting colleagues were there to make some kind of protest / informational videos about the ‘farm’ that is allegedly breeding animals for the purposes of animal testing / vivisection.
I personally oppose all animal testing of all kinds, however the politics surrounding vivisection are not what is in focus here. As mentioned by someone above, places such as this ‘farn’ receive continuous threats of violence against the premises and the staff that work there. They are often broken into, and staff, including their families, are often directly threatened with physical and verbal abuse. As such I can imagine it being a significantly high priority for local law enforcement to ensure that all reports of suspicious behaviour are followed up and evaluated. Using a drone either above, or along the boundary lines of, the property in question could well be seen as a potential precursor to an attack, or break-in of some kind. The police would want to be absolutely sure that they followed up on the complaint, including making a record of the persons against whom the complaint was made, because if they had failed to do anything, and some kind of attack had occurred subsequent to the complaint being made, then the police could legitimately be accused of negligence.
Regardless of my views on vivisection, these guys were almost certainly out to, at the very least, find information to discredit the company that owns the ‘farm’ mentioned. At the time the drone was being flown, there wouldn’t have been any information available to the ‘farm’ as to the agenda and future intent of the operators. There is a further question here as to whether the drone operators should have been made to prove they had not broken the law, and flown over private property, as well as filming, without permission.
Full cooperation with the police, instead of inflaming the situation, would have been a far better course of action. Let’s face it, it’s not as if these guys were totally innocent of all intent and motivations here.
Making out anyone, especially police officers, to be stupid and ignorant is never going to end well.