A veteran NYPD detective whose specialty was wiretapping wiseguys secretly recorded her own bosses to bolster her sexual harassment claims against them, the Daily News has learned.

Now, in an explosive trial underway in Manhattan Federal Court, ex-gumshoe Joann Karmel, 52, hopes the tape and evidence of raunchy verbal abuse at the hands of male colleagues will force the city to pay her a sizable damage award.

"In the space of a few years, [she] went from fully functioning, excellent detective to not being fit for duty," said Karmel's lawyer Robert Herbst. "She's been greatly stressed, clinically depressed and at times she began to think of killing herself."

Karmel says her career in the elite Queens district attorney's office squad took a nose dive after she complained to bosses about the crude comments.

At 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds, Karmel was dubbed Big Bird by fellow detectives. But that was mild compared with comments that ranged from nastiness about her body to suggestions her husband had sex with their dog.

Herbst told jurors that Karmel had a tape recorder running for two separate 1999 sitdowns with supervisors after they shunted her into dead-end assignments like manning a phone hotline while colleagues listened in on mobsters.

But city attorneys accuse Karmel of being a liar and manipulator. They concede a detective made the comment regarding her husband and the dog, but claim it was "stupid" humor that shouldn't have led to a federal suit.

Miller explained the comment was prompted by repeated calls from Karmel's husband while she was on wiretap duty, telling her that their dog, Shasta, was sick.

From the witness stand, Thomas Quinn, a retired detective who Karmel says made the remark, said he couldn't recall who said it. He said he later apologized for laughing.

This is cache, read story here