So they go around trying to provoke incidents, pushing buttons. Legally it looks like they did nothing wrong, morally I think they did.
Morally? Look we have a problem with the sort of personality type that is often attracted to the badge. It's a trump card that nobody else has. It allows them to answer and escalate any perceived "diss" to whatever is the end-result, from a citation to face-first into the pavement to "if you can gasp some intelligible words then you can breathe", legally allowing them to use force where, if they were a private citizen, would constitute assault and battery. Or at the most, a private citizen would get half the blame for the confrontation, where as a police officer, they can put it all off on the other person. To have the badge means always getting the last word or laugh. "Respect me OR violence", no different from any other thug who promises violence for lack of respect. e.g. all the memes on Facebook "If you get to stomp on my flag, I get to stomp on your face." Unionists who fully embrace "respect or violence". Dress and act like cishetero male or you deserve violence. Keep to your side of the tracks or violence. They're all the same.
I'd like to get as many of these passive-aggressive psychopathic assholes out in the open as possible, so they can be forced to do something else for a living before they end-up killing some unarmed person because "I felt my life was in danger" (translation: I was afraid to take a punch). Something more compatible with their personality traits, maturity level, and emotional restraint, like Subway Sandwich Artist or something.