Westbrook residents reacted with anger to the arrival last week of Norman Dickinson, two days after the convicted kidnapper landed back in jail on a probation violation.

“I don’t trust this guy,” said Mike Geary, whose house on Day Street is within sight of Dickinson’s apartment. “I don’t feel safe, and I’m not happy. I don’t want him looking at my family.”

Geary was one of about 18 people who attended a meeting at the Westbrook Public Safety Building on Dec. 15 to learn more about the move of Dickinson to an apartment at 622 Main St. – the fourth home Dickinson has had since he was released from prison three months ago.

Police Chief Paul McCarthy told residents that he did not endorse having Dickinson, who was convicted of kidnapping in 1989, in the city, but there was little he could do to prevent it.

“He has the right to live someplace,” McCarthy said. “Truth be known, I’d like him to live someplace else.”

Corrections officers said the day after Dickinson moved to Westbrook, he was put back in the Cumberland County Jail on a probation violation. While saying she could not discuss the specifics of the case, Assistant Regional Correctional Administrator Lisa Nash called the incident “a very minor technical violation.”

She said the incident occurred at an agency in Portland where Dickinson left his escort and walked directly to his probation officer’s office. Since Dickinson is prohibited from being out of his house without an escort, he was taken to jail. He was still being held on Tuesday.

McCarthy said he believed there would be a hearing on the matter today, Dec. 21, but he referred questions to the Department of Corrections. Nash did not return a call seeking comment.

At the meeting, Nash tried to diffuse residents’ concerns about Dickinson. She said since he was released from jail about three months ago he has not had any serious problems. “He has made significant progress from where he was in the past,” she said. “Norman is not the most dangerous offender you will see.”

Richard Hale of Brown Street said he didn’t want Dickinson in Westbrook. “It would probably be in his best interests if he was in a rural setting as opposed to being in an urban setting,” Hale said. “You can’t let people move into places like that when you know there’s a chance they could commit a crime.”

In 1989, when Dickinson was 20 years old, he was convicted of kidnapping. He was never charged with or convicted of any sex crime, and he is on probation for assaulting a corrections officer. Dickinson is wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet and cannot leave his house without authorized supervision.

The South Portland police said on Feb. 2, 1989, Dickinson committed a number of criminal acts in Portland, all involving a toy gun, that led to his arrest in Portland that day.

Police said Dickinson first approached a woman at an office park and pointed the toy gun at her and ordered her into her car. The woman screamed, and Dickinson left the scene. He then forced another woman who was getting out of her car to get back in and ordered her to drive to Cummings Road, near what is now the Target shopping center, at which point Dickinson got out of the car, and the woman drove away and called the police.

Dickinson then walked over to the parking lot of the Jackson Institute – now the Spring Harbor Hospital- and attempted to carjack another woman. The woman refused to go and gave him her keys. Dickinson took her money and drove off in her vehicle. Shortly thereafter he was caught in Portland after he crashed the car.

Nash said Dickinson is in better mental condition compared to eight years ago when he wrote to a judge calling himself a “time bomb.” She said Dickinson made that remark in response to a decision to put him in segregation while he was in prison.

Since Dickinson was released from prison, Nash said he has lived in Windham, Scarborough and Portland before signing a lease for an apartment in Westbrook. Dickinson’s presence has stirred up protests from residents in other towns, most recently in Scarborough. There, residents went to the home where he was staying and began to yell outside the house. Dickinson called police and the group dispersed before officers could arrive.

McCarthy said no matter how residents feel about Dickinson they would not be allowed to harass him. “The reality is we may not want him here, but he has the right to be here, and we can’t supercede that right just because we don’t like it,” he said.

Instead of harassing Dickinson, McCarthy urged residents to be extra vigilant and immediately report any suspicious incidents to police.

Nash agreed this was the best way residents could react to Dickinson. “We want you to be the eyes and ears of the community,” she said.

Geary said he would do whatever he could to force Dickinson to leave the city. “He’s going to have to find a fifth town as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “I find it highly unlikely that it will work here.”

He also added he would consider moving his family out of the city if there were any problems. “If he moves in there and my family and I feel uncomfortable, we’re gone,” he said. “I just don’t want anything to do with him.”

Dickinson meeting Westbrook Police Chief Paul McCarthy discusses the recent move of convicted kidnapper Norman Dickinson to Westbrook at a public meeting at the Public Safety Building on Dec. 15.

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