KCPD Launches Community Safe Space and Soft Investigation Room

Julia Williams
Editor-in-chief

Two weeks ago, the Kansas City Police Foundation approved funding for Missouri’s first and only discreet investigation room, at KCPD headquarters, 1125 Locust St.

Soft Inquiry Rooms were invented by Project Beloved co-founders Becky Halterman and her sister Tracy in April 2017. These rooms aim to provide a safe space for victims of sexual violence to share their experiences with law enforcement. order.

Once a soft room is offered to Halterman and the project, she said the organization will hold a soft interview, followed by getting dimensions and painting the space.

On average, approval of a soft room order takes approximately 8 to 12 months, due to the abundance of requests. This team of local volunteers sets up about two rooms per month, which include chairs, lamps and artwork.

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

“When a victim comes in, it’s not what they expect,” Halterman said. “There is a lot of distrust in law enforcement, this is the first step to changing that.”

She said she hoped it would create a space for conversation – rather than a space for investigation – to peacefully deliver and report justice.

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

In addition to soft rooms, the organization also creates packages including, among other things, clothing and hygiene products.

It also offers scholarships to Texas residents attending the University of Arkansas. Titled the Molly Jane Matheson Memorial Scholarship in Social Work, it aims to recognize Molly Jane’s social work aspirations.

Project Beloved is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, however, the team has created breakout rooms at locations in Manhattan, New York, North Carolina, Virginia, and various other locations throughout Texas. This Kansas City site marks room 102 – and the only one between Missouri and Kansas.

Although this organization currently operates nationally, Halterman said Project Beloved has received requests from Canada and Korea.

“We’ll go anywhere,” Halterman said.

Although some of its finances come from grants, the majority of its funding comes from individual donations or fundraising.

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

The Beloved Project has received overwhelmingly positive feedback: the former KCPD major and current president and CEO of the Police Foundation of Kansas City worked to provide funding for this flex room location.

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

Grant said that when Chief Graves proposed this soft room idea to the foundation, “it was a no-brainer.”

“Everyone in Kansas City wants to feel safe, which is at the heart of each of us,” Grant said. “We exist to move Kansas City forward and this shows exactly why here.”

With Room 102 complete, Grant said the Foundation and KCPD are already discussing a second multipurpose room at its headquarters, 1125 Locust St.