KCPD opens safe space for the community, Soft Investigation Room

Julia Williams
Editor-in-Chief

Two weeks ago, the Police Foundation of Kansas City approved funding for Missouri’s first and only Soft Investigation Room at the KCPD headquarters at 1125 Locust St.

The term “soft investigation rooms” was coined in April 2017 by Project Beloved co-founders Becky Halterman and her sister Tracy. These rooms are intended to provide victims of sexual violence with a safe place to share their experiences with law enforcement.

Once a soft room is proposed to Halterman and the project, the organization will conduct a soft interview, she said, then take measurements and paint the room.

Due to the large volume of requests, on average it takes about 8 to 12 months for a soft room commission to be approved. This team of local volunteers furnishes about two rooms per month, including chairs, lamps and artwork.

Halterman said the mission of Soft Investigation Rooms and Project Beloved is to support and empower survivors of sexual violence.

“When a victim comes in, they expect nothing,” Halterman said. “There is a lot of distrust of law enforcement. This is the first step to changing that.”

She said she hoped it would create a space for conversation – not just investigation – where justice could be done and reported on in peace.

Halterman said the idea for Project Beloved came to her days after the sexual assault and murder of her niece, Molly Jane, who was found in her Fort Worth, Texas, apartment on April 10, 2017.

In addition to soft room offers, the organization also offers package deals that include clothing and hygiene products, among other things.

In addition, scholarships are awarded to Texas residents attending the University of Arkansas. The scholarship is called the Molly Jane Matheson Memorial Scholarship in Social Work and is intended to honor Molly Jane’s ambitions in social work.

Project Beloved’s headquarters are in Fort Worth, Texas, but the team has also set up soft rooms in their home locations of Manhattan, NYC, North Carolina, Virginia, and several other locations in Texas. This Kansas City location is Room 102 – and the only one between Missouri and Kansas.

While the organization currently operates domestically, Halterman said Project Beloved has received inquiries from Canada and Korea.

“We will go anywhere,” Halterman said.

Some of the funding comes from grants, but the majority of the funds are raised through individual donations or fundraising campaigns.

“Everyone is very generous,” Halterman said. “We are very grateful.”

Feedback on Project Beloved has been overwhelmingly positive – a former KCPD major and current President and CEO of the Police Foundation of Kansas City championed funding for this soft room location.

The Police Foundation works with the KCPD to make Kansas City safer and funds projects – including this one with Project Beloved.

When Chief Graves proposed the idea of ​​a soft room to the foundation, it was “a no-brainer,” Grant said.

“Everyone in Kansas City wants to feel safe, that’s at the core of every one of us,” Grant said. “We exist to move Kansas City forward, and this shows exactly why.”

With Room 102 completed, Grant said the foundation and KCPD are already discussing a second soft room at their headquarters at 1125 Locust Street.