Many of the lawbreakers on the streets of Colorado communities suffer from substance addiction and mental illness. Those afflictions compound their criminal behavior.

Alongside the legal consequences they should face in the justice system, they also need treatment for what ails them. It’s their only hope, once taken into custody, for eventually reintegrating into society successfully and, sometimes, for recovering mental competency simply to face trial.

But whatever care they receive must never take priority over the need to protect the public. The public’s safety is paramount. That’s why criminal convicts with substance-abuse or mental-health needs, as well as dangerous suspects with those issues, must be confined — whether behind bars or in a secure, alternative program.

That clearly did not happen this month when 24-year-old Elijah David Caudill allegedly went on a knifing rampage in downtown Denver, stabbing four random victims, two of whom died. Not only should he have been in jail at the time — he was on probation with a lengthy, violent criminal record — but it turns out he also had been released on his recognizance with a vague understanding he would get help for mental illness.

Eye-opening follow-up reporting by The Gazette revealed that Caudill was released from custody on other charges only months ago to participate in a state program called Bridges of Colorado. It coordinates services for defendants with mental health disorders.

As bail expert Jeffrey Clayton pointed out in a Gazette commentary published last weekend, Bridges had no legal authority to take custody of, or even supervise, criminal defendants. Evidently, Caudill was able to walk away and disappear onto Denver’s streets.

In other words, Colorado’s justice system utterly failed the public.

The Gazette’s in-depth report yielded another startling revelation — about the Bridges program: It has ballooned in budget and payroll in just a few years. It is projected to cost the state $15.4 million this fiscal year and have 112 employees by year’s end. Just three years ago, the program had only 12 employees and a $2.8 million budget.

Bridges provides court liaisons who coordinate services for defendants with psychosis and other mental disorders. Suspects cannot be tried as long as they are deemed incompetent by the courts. So, Bridges is supposed to help expedite their release from jail so they can receive outpatient behavioral health services aimed at restoring competency to face their charges.

But therein lies the problem — releasing criminal suspects before they get the care they urgently need. It puts the cart before the horse. Instead of outpatient behavioral health services, shouldn’t judges order such services while suspects are confined — whether in jail or a secure treatment program?

Clearly, someone with Caudill’s record is a considerable risk to the community — all the more so given mental health issues. Didn’t the court see that?

This upside-down approach to justice urgently needs to be turned right side up. If it takes a change in the law or even the creation of a mental health program — one that actually works — so be it.

Of course, we won’t expect the Legislature to take action. The“justice reform” advocates among ruling Democrats shudder at locking up people just because they are a menace to society.

So, we’ll toss this one into the lap of Gov. Jared Polis, who has said public safety is a top priority. He can’t write the laws, but he can use the leverage of his podium to ensure lawmakers keep dangerous, mentally ill suspects away from the public.

Meanwhile, he might want to take a closer look at the Bridges program to see if Colorado taxpayers are getting anything for all that money.