A few weeks ago a man came into my husband’s office, here in town, brandishing a machete. He threatened the staff, my husband included, and claimed that heads would start rolling if he didn’t get what he wanted.

Needless to say the police were notified and they came to intervene. A report was filed, the man was disarmed and taken away, presumably to jail, and everything continued with a strained normality.

The next day we went grocery shopping, and who should we run into but the man who had threatened an office full of people less than 24 hours earlier.

One would assume that an individual would go to jail for at least a day or two for threatening someone with a weapon, but as it turns out the individual was mentally unstable and so, after simply being observed for an hour, he was turned loose.

This is normal in Emporia. I’ve experienced similar situations myself, even here on campus. An example that comes to mind is the time an individual came into the office with a sword.

It wasn’t as cool as it sounds.

He was, of course, apprehended by the police who then promptly escorted him to the edge of campus and let him go.

In Emporia, mentally ill people are not subject to the same type of restrictions and laws that mentally “healthy” people are.  They are allowed a greater amount of leniency and get away with actions that “normal” people could not.

I understand that there is a certain amount of sensitivity surrounding this subject. There are aspects of mental illness that require sympathy and support in order for an individual to attempt to cope with the darker parts of their thoughts, and combat the challenges that they face on a day-to-day basis.

That being said, it’s obvious that some of the people that really need it aren’t getting that support. Often they have access to it, but don’t utilize it. Perhaps if they were locked up when they committed a crime they would have to.

Further, if there is anybody that shouldn’t be allowed to roam free after threatening the life or wellbeing of another it is someone who is unstable- who potentially doesn’t fully comprehend, or can’t control, their actions.

While a certain amount of sensitivity is important, a mentally ill criminal is still a criminal, and mental instability shouldn’t be a get-out-of-jail-free card.