WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The Chicago Police Department (CPD) and Mayor Rahm Emanuel must conduct a public inspection of the police’s interrogation black site at Homan Square, advocacy group Chicago Anonymous' spokesperson Billy Joe Mills told Sputnik.
“We demand a public inspection of Homan Square today,” Mills said on Wednesday.
Mills explained that Chicago Anonymous aims to ensure that all people arrested in Chicago have access to a phone and a lawyer as well as have a public record made of their arrest.
“We have formally submitted this request to the News Affairs division within the CPD and we urge them to approve our request immediately,” Mills said.
Chicago Anonymous also hopes that a poster will be placed on all CPD facilities informing citizens of their rights and phone numbers to contact pro bono attorneys, according to Mills.
“The lack of access to an attorney is a systemic problem in all CPD facilities,” Mills said, adding that the police practice constitutes a real scandal because only 0.2 percent of all arrested in Chicago in 2013 have had a lawyer present at the police station.
Chicago-based attorney Richard Dvorak, who has defended citizens that were denied access to an attorney, told Sputnik on Wednesday that the CPD practice is a common occurrence.
CPD told Sputnik earlier that they abide by all rules, laws, and regulations pertaining to proper treatment of accused individuals.
