BREWER, Maine — You never know when a child is listening in. For Dalton Dunnells, a Penobscot County Jail Corrections Officer, a conversation with his fiancé about a recent officer-involved shooting was overheard by his step-children while at home. Dunnells says Aliyah Foster, 7, immediately wanted to help.
"She’s just a big helper she just wants people to know that she cares," Dunnell said. "I tried to sit her down and say it’s okay, he’s going to live. He’s strong. You have to make them feel comfortable when you are talking about it."
A conversation no parent wants to have with a child.
In the past, Aliyah and her sister Ayla, 5, have done arts and crafts for police departments. They've painted their hands black and blue and stamped it onto plates and hand-delivered their work to officers in Orono.
When they heard about Officer Timothy Hinton being shot in Waterville on Dec. 22, they got out blue paper, a pen, and markers. Aliyah penned a letter, signed by both sisters, and mailed it to the Waterville Police Dept. Attached to the letter was a Band-Aid with the Thin Blue Line flag, a police symbol that stands for the sacrifice law enforcement officers make each day, colored on it.
"Police officers keep us safe and we don’t want them to die," Aliyah said. "[It] makes me feel happy and excited because he’s okay."
What they never expected arrived a couple of weeks later. A package stuffed with Waterville Police Department patches, stickers, and necklaces. There were also handwritten notes and pictures from Hinton's children.
"Thank you for supporting our dad and we hope you like the necklaces we made you,” said one of the letters.
Not only were Aliyah and Ayla ecstatic over the necklaces, Dunnells says the pair wore it to school the next day.
Officer Hinton said in his response that his wounds were healing and he will put their get-well-soon card on his locker when he returns to work.
Aliyah and Ayla say they want to be police officers one day.
