This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

CHICAGO, Illinois -- Illinois has paved the way for it to be a felony to record the police on camera.

An amended bill was passed by the state's House and Senate. It's meant to discourage people from recording cops, by making it illegal to roll on conversations with them and other leaders—punishable by two to four years in prison.

The Illinois Policy Institute, an independent government watchdog group, says, "There`s only one apparent reason for imposing a higher penalty on people who record police in particular: to make people especially afraid to record police. that is not a legitimate purpose."

Under the bill, recording a private citizen is a lesser offense that is punishable by one to three years instead.