Most of the 3,500 arrestees detained in Chicago’s Homan Square facility over the past eleven years appear to have been African-Americans, the Guardian reported, revealing numbers obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
Some of the arrestees who were later released have claimed Homan Square was used for secret interrogations, the Guardian reported.
Moreover, the documents revealed that lawyers had only consulted detainees on three occasions in more than a decade. Two of those visits were made on the same day in 2013.
The attorney, Craig Futterman, noted that Chicago police don’t allow arrested people to meet lawyers at the times when they are most vulnerable — during interrogations.
The range of crimes committed by Homan Square detainees varied from driving violations to murders. However, the absolute majority of indictments against these inmates were filed for drug use. The most common charge was for heroin and cocaine use.
The Guardian published another report about Homan Square earlier this year, which led to clashes between police and citizens and caused a wave of fury among advocacy groups.
So far, Homan Square is still being used as a detention facility. As many as 118 people have been placed there since February, the last was registered arrest happened in late June.