Profile - Terry O’Connell

Known internationally as the ‘cop from Wagga Wagga’, Terry developed a conference script [and restorative questions] in 1991 that are now used by the restorative movement throughout the world.  Whilst inspired by restorative developments in New Zealand in 1990, Terry’s first informal restorative encounter was in June 1973 when he was assaulted by Gary, a fourteen-year-old with a history of violence. Rather than charge Gary, Terry invited Gary and his mum to the police station in order to better understand the ‘why’ of Gary’s behaviour. The dialogue revealed that Gary’s dad was killed in a motor vehicle accident resulting in Gary becoming an angry young man incapable of dealing with the trauma he was experiencing. The dialogue that Terry used with Gary became an important influence in his pioneering restorative work.

The process was emblematic of Terry’s policing style. He chose collaboration over coercion as he realised that policing was about ‘relational interactions’ involving those who were experiencing crisis and struggling with vulnerability. Terry’s respectful engagement style allowed him to view the formal criminal justice process as a ‘last resort’. Little known was Terry’s preoccupation with transforming policing using a ‘restorative lens’ and this ultimately led to some important restorative developments in Wagga Wagga, ACT, South Australia, Northern Territory, United Kingdom and North America.