KSHB 41 reporter Alyssa Jackson covers portions of Johnson County, including Overland Park, Prairie Village and Leawood. Share your story idea with Alyssa.
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A national effort to "soften" interview rooms for victims of crime started in Texas and has made its way to the Kansas City metro.
The Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department launched its room last summer.
Detective Fisher heard about it at the Johnson County Sheriff's Office and joined a wait list.
The movement is spearheaded by "Project Beloved", a non-profit created after 22-year-old Molly Jane was raped and murdered in Texas.
Her mother, Tracy Redfearn Matheson, committed to creating Project Beloved.
Since then, the group has helped fund and redesign at least 139 interview rooms in law enforcement agencies across the United States.
"The need is so great, and people have reached out to them because all over the country, people are trying to do this," Detective Fisher said. "This is where we'll bring victims of a crime to interview and talk about those most intimate details of something that happened to them on one of the most horrible nights of their life."
Fisher is the detective who made this happen for the sheriff's office. Often, her passion for crime victims extends beyond an interview — sharing supportive resources for paying rent, mortgages or getting families clothes and food.
She's been working in investigations seven out of a 26-year career in law enforcement.
Up until now, victims and suspects had the same experience in the interview process of the investigation — coming into a room with bare walls, a couple of couches and a camera.
The Johnson County Sheriff's Office reached out to KSHB 41 for an exclusive look at the renovated space.
"It just looks like I'm going to my therapist," Fisher said. "That more trauma-informed kind of approach...we've learned about the mind and how trauma plays a part in how the mind works."
In 2023 and 2024, the sheriff's department has been involved in a total of 36 crimes against persons investigations, including assists for other agencies in the county.
Crimes range from assault, criminal sodomy, rape, sexual battery and murder.
Project Beloved has helped with soft interview rooms in Wichita, Shawnee County, Dodge City, St. Louis and Kansas City.
Johnson County was the non-profit's 138th location.
The new room has artwork, new furniture, fresh paint and sensory items to make victims comfortable.
"There's a shift in law enforcement," the detective said. "I don't know why we didn't do that before, but we have learned that's what's important."
Since the renovation in May, the new interview room hasn't been used.
Fisher said: "A lot of people have their own perception of law enforcement, and maybe this will help break some of those barriers as well. This is not what you see on TV. It's not stereotypical. This is something beautiful meant for trauma victims or victims of any crime."
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