--- description: Around 3,500 people in Chicago have been detained in a warehouse that serves as what some argue is a secret interrogation facility. title: Chicago Police Detained Thousands in Interrogation Facility image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ebef4a3d1a694e5/69885e163c163927af459243/homan-square-filmore.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Chicago Police Detained Thousands in Interrogation Facility by [Alexandra Sifferlin](/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 5, 2015 8:40 PM CUT  Google Street View by [Alexandra Sifferlin](/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 5, 2015 8:40 PM CUT Roughly 3,500 people in Chicago have been detained in a warehouse that some detainees argue is a secret interrogation facility. [The _Guardian_ reports](http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/05/homan-square-chicago-thousands-detained "undefined") that over the last 10 years, 82% of the people held at the facility, called Homan Square, were black. According to the paper, only three of the people held at the facility had documented attorney visits. The Chicago police department denies the facility is a secret. The data on Homan Square, which The Guardian obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request, show two-thirds of the facility’s arrests occurred while Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was in office. The city has reportedly owned the location since 1995, and Mayor Emanuel took office in May, 2011. Some of those held at the location told the _Guardian_ they spent hours without anyone knowing their whereabouts, sometimes without food and water. [_Read more at The Guardian._](http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/05/homan-square-chicago-thousands-detained "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3986436/chicago-police-interrogation-facility/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3986436/chicago-police-interrogation-facility/"},"headline":"Chicago Police Detained Thousands in Interrogation Facility","datePublished":"2015-08-05T20:40:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:56:12.529Z","description":"Data shows most of the detainees were black","url":"https://time.com/3986436/chicago-police-interrogation-facility/","keywords":["Crime","police","chicago"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ebef4a3d1a694e5/69885e163c163927af459243/homan-square-filmore.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ebef4a3d1a694e5/69885e163c163927af459243/homan-square-filmore.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"homan square filmore","caption":"homan square filmore","creditText":"Google Street View","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3986436/chicago-police-interrogation-facility/","name":"Chicago Police Detained Thousands in Interrogation Facility"}}]}] ```