CHICAGO (Sputnik) – Media reports appeared in February 2015, claiming that Chicago police ran an off-the-books interrogation site. They alleged that a warehouse at Homan Square was used to interrogate criminal suspects, where officers beat and held detainees for prolonged periods of time without allowing them access to a lawyer. At least one man reportedly died after being interrogated at this "black site."
"Over the arc of time, there's been less [torture in Chicago]," Timothy O'Neill, a law professor and board member of the First Defense Legal Aid (FDLA), said to Sputnik on Saturday.
O'Neill said that the best way to reduce the amount of torture committed by Chicago police is to inform Chicago residents about the existence of free legal aid clinics like the FDLA.
The FDLA board of directors' member said he is quite excited by a new procedure which has been adopted by police whereby confessions to crimes, particularly to murder and serious sex cases, will now to be recorded, and he hopes that the practice of recording confessions will be extended to other crimes.
O'Neill concluded that as awareness grows and lawyers are able to get to help their clients earlier, the legal group will hopefully also be able to help their clients deal psychologically with the circumstances they find themselves in.
Earlier in May, the Chicago City Council approved a $5.5-million reparations fund for victims of police misconduct under former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge and his detectives, who tortured detainees under Burge's command throughout the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. Most of the victims were African-American.
