What happened recently on Victoria Avenue in Jamestown is just one example of what is frustrating many New Yorkers with their state government.

For all of the statistics that state Democrats want to cite that bail reform hasn’t led to a rash of reoffenders walking the streets, there are situations like last week’s in Jamestown that should upset people regardless of their political leanings. Reoffenders happen – not always because of bail reform but because it takes far too long to get a case from a charge to a courtroom.

To recap, regional police officers spent hours at the scene of a standoff on Victoria Avenue after a reported burglary in progress. The home was also the site of a shooting on Aug. 17 and then an ongoing drug investigation. When responding to the reported burglary officers found out that two people involved in the ongoing illegal drug investigation were at the home. While one person came out of the house quickly, a man stayed inside for hours.

Eventually, after some tense hours, police resolved the situation.

Why should people be upset? Here’s why.

The man involved in the standoff was involved in a similar standoff with police a little more than a year ago. That standoff was preceded by another incident in which the man left a U.S. Marshals Service halfway house without permission. The woman involved in the standoff has been charged repeatedly with drug possession of increasing seriousness.

We’ve said before that the wheels of justice turn slowly in New York state despite bail reform’s efforts to speed things up with unrealistic discovery timelines that led to scores of cases being dismissed. Yet, in the span of a little more than a year someone who created a dangerous situation in one of our neighborhoods was creating the same dangerous situation in a different neighborhood. There will come a day when a standoff here doesn’t end peacefully. We’ve been lucky so far.

We note, as well, that fentanyl is heavily involved in the drug charges levied against both those involved in last week’s standoff. These situations must be avoided. Police are doing what they can. At some point the blame shifts to a court system that simply moves too slowly. If state lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul really care about public safety, they’ll unclog our criminal courts.

Maybe moving cases through the system more quickly will keep some of these dangerous situations from happening so regularly.