Safe interview room helps victims of domestic violence, rape and sexual assault, says police

Robert Washburn November 16, 2019 2 min read

A traditional police interview room like the one above is not very conducive to talking with people who have experience domestic violence, rape or sexual assault. The Cobourg Police have created a safe interview room at the station to make those victims feel less traumatized.

Unless you have been through it, understanding the terror and pain of domestic abuse, it is not easy to fully appreciate what someone is experiencing. As we learned last week when I interviewed Nancy Johnston, executive director of Cornerstone women’s shelter, there are some 2,600 women and children, who seek help from their services. In many cases, these women have faced violence in the home. The first responders to these cases of domestic violence are the police. During such cases, interviewing the victims of violence, rape or sexual assault can be very hard. This past week, Cornerstone and the Cobourg police force announced an innovative approach to addressing the issues around police interviews with victims of violence. Here to talk about this project is Sgt. Brent Allison, of the Cobourg Police Force.