In Illinois it is no longer a felony to record audio footage of on duty police officers. It had previously been illegal, until the supreme court voted to not revive the law.
The law prohibiting audio recording was initially challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois (ACLU). They were fighting for a “police accountability program” that required audio and video recordings.
Laws vary from state to state when it comes to recording police officers – whether audio or video. It should, however, be uniform across the nation. The truth is that police officers are recorded daily, on surveillance cameras, on their cop car cams, on the digital audio recording devices. It is legal record people in public, why should it be illegal to record police officers?
The interesting case is Alvarez v. Connell et al, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 12-318.
