Recently, Emily Yates, law enforcement victim advocate for victims of crime at the Greenbrier County Sheriff’s Department, received the installation of a soft interview room in Greenbrier County funded by Project Beloved: The Molly Jane Mission.
The room includes comfortable chairs, a weighted blanket for comfort, a diffuser with lavender essential oils for a calming effect. A lamp is included in hopes the overhead lights can be turned off and a more pleasant light source used.
“We strive to create a world where victims are heard and believed, perpetrators are prosecuted, and justice is served,” Yates says. Part of Project Beloved mission is the creation of soft interview rooms. The rooms are based on the principle of Trauma-Informed Care, which takes into account everything from the color of the paint on the wall, the lighting, the fabric of the furniture, and the type of art on display. The idea is to get away from the “institutional feeling” of a typical police interview room.
The soft interview room will be located at the Greenbrier County Sheriff’s Department where Yates will be working as a new law enforcement-based Victim Advocate for Victims of Crime. Law enforcement officers will use this room to interview victims of crime.
“Someone who’s been the victim of a horrific crime is already going through a nightmare, and sitting in a cold, sterile interview room to talk to police about it is not ideal. I’m glad it will give people most in need of comfort the ability to feel safer as they come forward with their story,” Yates said
The mother of Molly Jane, Tracy Matheson is the founder of Project Beloved. Matheson learned that her daughter was dead and that her death was ruled a homicide and prior to her death she had been raped. The family then found out as a result of the police investigation that this wasn’t the first time the perpetrator has done this.
The family’s tragedy motivated Matheson to create and advocate for a new law. Molly Jane’s Law became law in the state of Texas in September of 2019. Molly Jane’s Law states that when law enforcement investigated a case of sexual assault they shall use ViCAP (Violent Criminal Apprehension Program) to input information about the reported offender and nature/details of the offense to minimize the chance of the perpetrator re-committing crimes.
Project Beloved also included two canvases in the Greenbrier County room by photographer Megan Getrum. Getrum was killed five days after Molly Jane and the same suspect was charged with capital murder in her death. She was an amateur photographer with a passion for traveling.