FYI:

Park district officer threatens to ticket breast-feeding mom 



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By Ron Pazola 


STAFF WRITER 

  A Naperville resident was breast-feeding her 4-month-old daughter at the east end of Centennial Beach last week when a Naperville Park District police officer threatened to give her a citation for "indecent exposure" if she didn't cover up. 

   "I asked him if anyone at the beach had complained about me, if I had offended anyone," said Lisa Simari, 32. "The officer said, 'Yes, you are offending me.'" 

   Simari, who described the officer as being polite and in his 20s, said he was going to issue her a $50 ticket if she didn't cover the upper part of her body. Simari, who has previously breast-fed at Centennial Beach without incident, said she "bit her lip" and avoided a ticket by placing a burp cloth on herself. She said she didn't want to cause a scene. 

   "I really felt angry inside," Simari said. "I was modest and well covered. No one stopped and stared at me. My attire was no more provocative than the swimwear many women wear at Centennial Beach." 

   Andrea Lamontagne, 15, a student a Naperville Central High School and Simari's baby sitter, confirmed Simari's story. Lamontagne sat next to Simari on a bench as Simari's three other children - ages 6, 5 and 3 - played in the water. 

   "It was about 2:30 in the afternoon. The officer walked by us a couple of times and then walked toward us again and told Lisa to cover up or she'd get a ticket," Lamontagne said. "I didn't really think she was showing that much at all." 

   Naperville Park District Police Chief Bill Young said there is no Naperville ordinance prohibiting public breast-feeding. 

   "After talking to both the officer and the woman, I think there was indiscretion on both sides," Young said. 

   Young declined to give further details or disclose the officer's name. He said the man is a part-time park service officer who has recently taken law enforcement classes at Western Illinois University in Macomb and who also completed 160 hours of certified training through the city of Naperville. The officer does not carry a weapon or makes arrests and is in the process of looking for a full-time law enforcement position, Young said. Other Park District officers have completed training at various police academies and have the authority to carry weapons and make arrests. Park District officers are separate from the Naperville Police Department. 

   "We do get complaints from women every now and then who have been hassled because of breast-feeding in public, but those cases are becoming more isolated," said Kim Cavaliero of Schaumburg-based La Leche League International, a nonprofit organization that promotes the health benefits of breast-feeding. "In the past, we used to get more complaints, but views on breast-feeding are changing and society is becoming more acceptive of it." 

   Cavaliero said there is no federal or state law prohibiting breast-feeding in public. Illinois legislation states that breast-feeding infants cannot be viewed as an indecent act. 

   "Breast-feeding is something that's natural," Cavaliero said. "The breast is meant to nourish and nurture. Society needs to realize that the breast is not merely a body part for pleasure or an object to market beer." 

   Cavaliero said her organization will not get directly involved with Simari other than to refer her to La Leche's legal department, if she chooses to pursue the matter further. La Leche also is available to educate the public, including law enforcement officers, about breast-feeding, she said. 

   Naperville Park District Executive Director Ken Brissa talked to Simari over the phone about the matter. 

   "I listened to the woman and sympathized with her," Brissa said. "I told her what happened to her was a misunderstanding and that it won't happen again." 

   "The whole incident really upset me," said Simari, who also said she will not pursue the case further. "I'm angry because I was made to feel guilty and I have nothing to feel guilty about. I want the officer to apologize to me, to admit that he was wrong, but I don't think that will happen."

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