Editor’s note: This letter is in response to Editor Brendan Moran’s Jan. 11 editorial on former convict Norman Dickinson.
You sounded conflicted in your piece, Brendan. I know I’m feeling conflicted.
On one hand, there’s this big, bad monster named Norman Dickinson who lives in my city when he should be living “anywhere else.” He attempted to kidnap two women and failed because they were gutsy enough to protect themselves; he has said in the past that he’s a “ticking time bomb.” I wouldn’t want him as my tenant. But I think he’s less dangerous than some of the sex offenders we have living here in Westbrook. Why doesn’t anyone have the pitchforks out for them? I am more afraid, and more worried, of the child molesters and perverts in this city than I am over one sad, sorry man who would run if you said “boo.”
The media is all over this “story.” It keeps feeding itself, making an even bigger story. Every time Norman Dickinson is run out of a town, there’s the press, and the “monster” grows. I want to applaud Chief McCarthy. He said when Dickinson first came to Westbrook, that any violent acts toward him would be punished. He was asking for cool heads to prevail. Think, before you react. What would happen if we were simply armed with the information that he is there, and we ignore him, and take precautions for our safety and the safety of our family? Can we offer self-defense classes to Westbrook citizens, learning how to defend and protect ourselves? That makes sense to me.
I don’t welcome Norman Dickinson to my city, but he did the crime, he did the time, and now, like all those other convicted felons and molesters and perverts, I need to be aware of my surroundings when I go outside. He wants to be left alone. I can accommodate that. I also am armed with the knowledge of how to defend myself and hope that I never have to do so. There are other threats out there besides Norman Dickinson.
Cindy Murphy
Westbrook
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