COMUSAFE opens new OSI interview room

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Kelsey Waters
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Gen. Frank Gorenc, U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa commander, cut the ribbon on a new interview room for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations April 14, 2014, at Detachment 512, here.

The primary purpose for the room is for AFOSI agents to meet with and interview child and adult victims of sexual assault in a non-threatening space.

"The room comfortably holds two AFOSI agents, the victim, the special victim's council and the victim advocate," said Special Agent Tam Reed, forensic sciences consultant. Reed served as AFOSI Det 512's subject matter expert in sex crimes.

The previous interview room was smaller, gray, had bars on the windows and was unnerving to victims. The new room, originally a storage area, is large and has couches, chairs and activities for children.

"We hope that the new room will allow for some barriers to come down," said Reed. "A lot of time there are barriers up because AFOSI can be seen in an almost adversarial role."

In creating this room, the goal was to balance compassion with fact finding and to have a facility that serves as a model for other detachments.

"The room has the ability to record video and audio, so there is less of a chance of re-traumatizing the victim," Reed said. "The aim of this new room is to get the truth, raise and uphold public trust and to give everyone access to justice."