Homan Square facility
Homan Square is a Chicago Police Department facility on the West Side in a former Sears warehouse. It opened in 1999 and houses the department’s Evidence and Recovered Property Section.
In 2015, it drew worldwide attention after journalist Spencer Ackerman wrote in The Guardian that the site functioned as an off‑the‑books interrogation compound, likening it to a CIA black site. He claimed that some people, often poor and Black or Latino residents, were held there without public records of their whereabouts, with limited access for lawyers and families. The NATO 3 case from the 2012 NATO summit was a spotlight example in his reporting.
Some defense lawyers and Chicago researchers pushed back, arguing that the problems described were not unique to Homan Square but part of broader police practices in the city. The Chicago Police Department denied wrongdoing, saying detainees are treated within the law and that lawyers and families can visit those held there, just as at other facilities. Critics said the department’s denial overlooked systemic issues in how arrests and detentions are handled.
The same year, Chicago also moved to address past abuses with a separate reparations package for survivors of torture by former police commander Jon Burge. The plan included a $5.5 million fund, free city college tuition for survivors and their families, a memorial, and school lessons about the era.
Today, Homan Square remains part of ongoing debates about policing, civil rights, and accountability in Chicago.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 10:33 (CET).