[wsls.com]National Crime Victims’ Rights Week brings light to Soft Interview Room in Lynchburg

A way to make victims feel safe — that’s the goal of the new Soft Interview Room for the Lynchburg Victim Witness Program.

[dentonrc.com]New ‘soft’ interview room at Denton police station designed to set crime victims at ease

When victims of violent crimes across the nation enter a police station for an interview, they can probably expect to find themselves in the same barren room that suspects do.

Just a table and chairs is suitable for some interviews. However, as victims of violent crimes tell detectives about what is likely one of the most traumatic moments of their lives, the typical interview room environment offers little comfort.

Tracy Matheson is all too familiar with this issue after her 22-year-old daughter, Molly Jane Matheson, was raped and murdered. The loss led her down a deep path of research into firsthand accounts from victims that many feel unheard and uncomfortable during the criminal investigation process.

[news5cleveland.com]Sexual assault survivor helps create welcoming interview rooms at law enforcement agencies

MEDINA, Ohio — A local sexual assault survivor is on a mission to help others who have also lived through traumatic situations.

Kelsey Lambrakis, of North Ridgeville, is bringing awareness and helping to make changes at local police departments and sheriff's offices so that victims feel believed, supported and comforted.

In 2022, Lambrakis was the victim of a sexual assault in Medina County. The crime was committed by a man she knows.

"It really, truly imploded every inch of my life," Lambrakis said.

[newschannel10.com]Friona designs ‘soft interview room’ to help assault survivors

A first for the Panhandle, the City of Friona is implementing a ‘soft interview room’ for survivors of sexual assault.

“Victims sitting across a table from someone in law enforcement or backed into a corner where it’s just plain and cold and uncomfortable, so let’s take these spaces and make them warm and inviting and comfortable,” said Tracy Matheson, president and founder of Project Beloved.

[www.mystateline.com]Freeport Police redesign interview room to be more welcoming to trauma survivors

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Freeport Police have given one of its interview rooms a makeover to accommodate survivors of violence.

The new “soft interview” room features a “trauma-informed” design after being repainted and carpeted and given new furnishings to make the room more comfortable.

[wrex.com]New Freeport Police interview room aims to help domestic violence victims

FREEPORT — The Freeport Police Department is showcasing a new “soft” design to it's interview room, based on research that shows Trauma Informed Care and victim-centered approaches are the best practices when interviewing victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

[nbc12.com]New ‘soft interview rooms’ to help sexual assault victims

HENRICO, Va. (WWBT) - With comfortable chairs, blankets, chosen artwork and essential oils, the new ‘soft interview room” is now open at Henrico Police Headquarters.

Henrico Police Division Captain Lauren Nobles says the design helps make victims more comfortable while sharing details about a traumatic event with police as they investigate a case.

“Having anything that can be the most remote, more inviting is the key, is going to what allows us in law enforcement to help the victim,” Nobles said.

Rooms like this are being installed across the country, and Tracy Matheson is the leader behind these efforts.

[youtube.com]Webinar: Ready to Build a New Soft Interview Room. Learn How from the Experts!

Join Tracy Matheson, founder of Project Beloved and Claude Turcotte, CEO of MaestroVision in this educational webinar on how to build a trauma-informed soft interview room at your organization with the right technology. PLUS get a live tour of Minot Police Department's soft interview room.

[KUER.org]To ease victim’s trauma, the U’s new police station has a soft interview room

In the University of Utah’s recently unveiled police station, you’ll find something new. The facility includes a “soft interview room” — a space meant to help sexual assault victims feel more comfortable reporting crimes.

The room looks like a therapist’s office, or maybe even a spa. Warm lamps illuminate teal and gray couches, draped with weighted blankets. A diffuser emits a washed out green glow on the soft, felt walls.

A painting hangs on the emerald green back wall. “A forest with purple flowers and the sun coming through on the other side of the trees, sort of relating hope through the art,” said Hilary White, the crime victim advocate coordinator for the University of Utah Police.

Until now, everyone — suspects and victims — were interviewed in the same cold, sterile room.

[brproud.com]LSU joins non-profit to change treatment of sexual assault survivors

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) ––– College campuses across the country are no strangers to sexual assault cases, but how and where police speak to survivors greatly impacts the quality of investigations.

Thirteen percent of all college students experience some form of sexual assault, but only about thirty-one percent report an assault to the police. But reporting means police often have to interview the survivor to get the assailant off the streets.

After suffering a tragic loss, Matheson decided more needed to be done to protect survivors. “Project Beloved is a nonprofit that I founded in the aftermath of what I would describe as a parent’s worst nightmare. My daughter, Molly Jane, was raped and murdered April 10th, 2017,” Matheson explained.

[lsu.edu]LSU POLICE DEPARTMENT FIRST IN THE SEC TO IMPLEMENT “SOFT INTERVIEW ROOM”

The LSU Police Department is the first in the SEC to implement a Project Beloved “soft interview room” for victims of trauma or sexual violence. The new room features comfortable lighting, furniture, weighted blankets and items that are intended to help survivors talk to police about what happened.

[mydakotan.com]Helping Victims of Assault in Minot

MINOT – The Minot Police Department recently changed the structure of its interview rooms for sexual assault victims, to make it more comfortable for the victims being interviewed.

Kristin Guerton, detective in the investigations division for the Minot PD, said she heard of an organization called Project Beloved: The Molly Jane Mission at a conference she attended in 2019.

Tracy Matheson of Fort Worth, Texas, and founder of Project Beloved, said the non-profit does several methods of outreach including what she calls the Beloved Bundles.

[kxnet.com]Soft room at Minot PD aims to make survivors feel safe

MINOT, N.D. (KXNET) — According to RAINN, every 68 seconds, someone in the United States is sexually assaulted.

Project Beloved aims to educate people about sexual assault and advocate for survivors.

One of their larger initiatives is partnering with law enforcement agencies to make what they call, “soft interview rooms.”

[valawyersweekly.com]New interview room designed to empower survivors

CHARLOTTESVILLE (AP) Carefully chosen artwork, comfortable chairs, blankets and essential oils help ease harsh memories.

A new ‘soft interview room’ at the Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office is designed to make a more comfortable place for victims to recall and discuss the traumatic events they’ve been through as prosecutors and police prepare criminal court cases.

The Charlottesville room is the most recent of 48 created and installed across the country by Project Beloved, a Texas-based nonprofit that advocates, educates and collaborates with criminal justice officials to help victims, especially sexual assault survivors, tell their stories.

[dailyprogress.com]Opinion/Editorial: Helping others is often the best way through loss

Anyone who has suffered the horrific loss of a loved one know how hard it is to deal with the alchemy of emotions. Anger competes with despair to fuel a sense of futility. The suffering of the person who died crushes the spirit. The permanence of death haunts the future.

[dailyprogress.com] A soft room for hard conversations: New interview room designed to empower survivors

A new ‘soft interview room’ at the Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office is designed to make a more comfortable place for victims to recall and discuss the traumatic events they’ve been through as prosecutors and police prepare criminal court cases.

[WDBJ7.com] Soft interview room opened at Virginia Military Institute Police Department

There’s a new room in the Virginia Military Institute Police Department. It’s the first of its kind on a college campus in Virginia and ready to be used to help survivors of sexual assault. It’s called a soft interview room and it’s all thanks to a non-profit organization. “Project Beloved is a non-profit with a mission statement to educate, advocate and collaborate to change the conversation about sexual assault and empower survivors to find their voices. Project Beloved was born out of a parent’s worst nightmare. It’s the easiest way I can say it. My daughter was raped and murdered April 10th, 2017 and in the aftermath of that and understanding the circumstances that basically allowed her to be killed, we decided we had to do something,” said Tracy Matheson, Project Beloved founder.

[wsls.com] VMI now offers ‘soft interview room’ for sexual assault survivors

Tracy Matheson, founder of Project Beloved, is creating a space for sexual assault victims to feel safe when telling their stories. This new space on campus is called the “soft interview room,” and will be open to any law enforcement agency in the area who needs it. The soft interview room at VMI is the third in Virginia and the very first to be on a Virginia college campus.

[wfaa.com] 'I can't sit here and be quiet' | Texas woman found her daughter raped, strangled 5 years ago. Now, she advocates for sexual assault survivors.

“When I kind of pieced all of that together, I was like ‘Wait, she could be alive had someone done their job, had someone believed,’” the mother said.

[Houston Police Department] Project Beloved Soft Interview Room

HPD is proud to partner with Tracy Matheson, founder of Project Beloved, a non-profit organization who installs soft interview rooms for the investigations of sexual assault and domestic violence. Project Beloved's install of soft interview room #42 at the Houston Police Department creates a trauma-informed space for survivors to share their experiences of abuse and assault.

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