Attempt to record police abuse in Chicago and you'll be prosecuted and may serve 15 years in prison.

A former stripper who is accused of illegally recording a conversation with two Chicago police internal affairs detectives cried on the witness stand Tuesday as she admitted being mad at the time because she thought her sexual harassment complaint wasn’t being taken seriously.

Tiawanda Moore, 20, is charged with two felony counts of eavesdropping on a public official for allegedly recording a four-minute portion of the Aug. 18, 2010, interview on her BlackBerry, which she had hidden in her lap.

Moore, of Hammond, Ind., was being interviewed at police headquarters about her complaint that a patrol officer had grabbed her breast and given her his phone number when he came to her boyfriend’s South Side apartment on a domestic disturbance call.

On the muffled recording, which was played for the jury Tuesday, Internal Affairs Officer Luis Alejo can be heard explaining to Moore that if she dropped the complaint, they could “almost guarantee” that the harassment would not happen again. He also suggested that going that route might save her the time and aggravation of a full investigation

Under Illinois’ eavesdropping law, making an audio recording a law enforcement officer or court official without the consent of all parties is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. The law does provide an exception allowing citizens to obtain evidence through a recording device if they have a “reasonable suspicion” that a crime is about to be committed.

The case against Moore has caught the attention of civil libertarians who believe the law is unconstitutional. Earlier this month, a group called the Chicago Taskforce on Violence Against Girls and Young Women submitted a petition with more than 3,000 signatures demanding that Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez drop the charges.


Link:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-woman-recorded-cops-after-harrassment-claims-ignored-20110823,0,2282406.story