Area residents continue to grieve the death of Chattanooga police Sgt. Tim Chapin, who was shot as he responded Saturday to a call about a robbery in Brainerd.
But the heartbreaking events took on added tragedy when it was learned that the suspect, 25-year-old Jesse Mathews, was previously convicted of aggravated robbery in Colorado - and was freed before his sentence was up. Mathews was released from prison and sent to a "halfway house" after serving only a few years of his 20-year sentence. On Feb. 12, he failed to show up at the halfway house, and police say he robbed a pharmacy before leaving town. Soon he was in the Chattanooga area.
Assuming Mathews recovers from wounds he sustained in the shootout on Saturday, a court will determine whether he is guilty of killing the heroic police officer, who was a husband and the father of two children.
But if Mathews is found guilty, just think of the emotional agony that Chapin's family, friends and fellow officers might have been spared if Mathews had been required to serve his full prison sentence.
Unfortunately, too many lawmakers in too many states assume that even hard-core criminals can safely be released back into free society if they undergo the right "therapy," and if we can treat the "root causes" of violent crime.
Because officials in Colorado took that dangerous roll of the dice, everyone - the Chapin family, our community and even the suspect - is far worse off than if Mathews had had to serve his entire sentence for his earlier crime.
This is a case in which "truth in sentencing" might have averted a tragedy.