Showing the ropes

Editorial: Jesse Wray-McCann

Photography: Nicki Connolly

There are very few police who have had such a powerful impact on the lives of young people in Victoria as Leading Senior Constable Mick O’Meara.

The retiring Boronia officer has helped transform the lives of thousands of youths who have fallen foul of the law.

Since he took it upon himself to establish the ground-breaking Ropes Program in 2001, almost 6000 young offenders have had the opportunity to correct their path in life.

The program is an option for magistrates when dealing with first-time child offenders charged with a minor offence.

It pairs the youth with the officer who charged them, and together they complete a ropes adventure course as part of a one-day program.

Ldg Sen Const O’Meara uses the day to teach the importance of making the right choices, and successful participants avoid having a conviction recorded against their name.

Ldg Sen Const Mick O’Meara is passionate about helping young offenders turn theirlives around.

The concept is simple, the results are stunning.

Of the first-time youth offenders the courts deal with using traditional sentencing options, about 40 per cent go on to commit another crime within 12 months.

But the recidivism rate for those who complete the Ropes Program is a mere 6 per cent.

Ldg Sen Const O’Meara explains the Ropes Program acts as a circuit breaker.

“What I was seeing were kids making a bad choice, making a mistake and then not being able to reverse the impacts of that choice,” he said.

“They would choose to commit the crime, but then all the other dominoes had to fall because the police officer had no choice but to charge them, the court had no choice but to convict them, the prospective employer had no option but to refuse their job application because of their criminal record and overseas countries had no option but to deny them a visa because of their conviction.

“I am never going to be able to stop those dominoes falling up to their court appearance, but the Ropes Program is a circuit breaker I can use to help stop the other dominoes from falling.”

Yet the program – run through seven different Children’s Court locations across the state – is no walk in the park, and nor is it a simple ticking of the box to help kids escape trouble with the courts.

Participants find themselves at points through the course dangling precariously 18 meters above the ground, and even some police officers have found parts of the course too tough to complete.

But complete it, they must.

Ldg Sen Const O’Meara lays down the law and makes it abundantly clear to participants they only have one chance at the program.

“No one is born with an IOU. It’s the choices we make in life that affect our chances in life,” he tells participants.

“If any of you crack it today and tell me you want to go home early, I’ll give you a phone to call someone to pick you up, but just know that you’ll be back in court in a few days’ time to be dealt with.

“At this point, the Ropes Program is everything to you, so make the choice to make the most of this opportunity.

“The courts and Victoria Police are supporting you and working hard for you.”

These aren’t just words, it is an attitude Ldg Sen Const O’Meara continually embodies.

Victoria Police’s Specialist Children’s Court Prosecution Unit managing principal lawyer and former Legal Aid children’s defence lawyer Laura Chipp is one of Ldg Sen Const O’Meara’s biggest fans and has seen first-hand his devotion to helping troubled teens.

“It is astonishing the way he has changed thousands of people’s lives, and I just want to scream it from the rafters,” Ms Chipp said.

Ms Chipp recalls a time she was a defence lawyer at Ringwood for a boy charged with a serious case of arson.

Still with her client at court, Ms Chipp left a message for Ldg Sen Const O’Meara at Boronia Police Station, hoping to get her client into the Ropes Program and a CFA fire awareness course.

“Mick didn’t call me back, but instead came straight to Ringwood, hand-delivered material on the CFA course and convinced the informant to give the kid a chance at Ropes and the CFA course,” Ms Chipp said.

“And that kid ended up being an absolute success story who never offended again.”

Ldg Sen Const O’Meara has spent 34 years as a police officer and plans to retire this September.

The Ropes Program and its impact is a remarkable legacy for the 62-year-old to leave.

He has also been awarded the prestigious Australian Police Medal, an honour he says

he thought “only the bosses got, not a little old Leading Senior Constable”.

But for all the program’s statistical success and the accolades that have come his way, Ldg Sen Const O’Meara cherishes the personal stories of redemption and transformation most of all.

He often is stopped at school fetes and shopping centres by previous participants or their parents wanting to thank him.

Perhaps his most treasured story is of a boy who went through the Ropes Program in its early years for committing theft.

Many years on and he is now a man serving in the army, working his way up the ranks.

He keeps in regular contact with Ldg Sen Const O’Meara and even had him attend his march out parade.

In honour of Ldg Sen Const O’Meara’s role in his life, he gave his son the middle name ‘Michael’.

“I’m just overwhelmed, I’m so proud of him,” Ldg Sen Const O’Meara said.

“I’m very proud of all of the kids, because they have gone on and made something of their lives, and it’s very humbling to know Ropes played an important part in that.”

Even in retirement, Ldg Sen Const O’Meara plans to live out the very motto of the program, “Ropes Program - A commitment, not a task”.

“I’ll continue to be involved with Ropes,” he said.

“I’ll be doing it for as long as I can.”