Fletcher said criminals, after they are arrested, wait until they reach the booking area at the respective county jail, and then tell officers or deputies they've ingested illegal drugs, such as methamphetamine, or heroin.

"The minute they say that we now have a legal obligation to get them to Regions Hospital for evaluation," said Fletcher. "Ramsey County is a little bigger than some of the other law enforcement agencies and most of the time we will keep deputies on the hospital door of these guys until they are released from the hospital and brought back to the jail when it's discovered they have absolutely no drugs inside them. But, smaller police departments often need their officers to leave the criminal at the hospital and return to answering calls for crimes in progress."

But, Fletcher said, once the law enforcement officers leave the criminal at the hospital they no longer have control over them and the hospital has no legal authority to keep the criminal for treatment. So, Fletcher said, the criminals "just walk out of the hospital."

"And we've had some who committed assaults, robberies and burglaries the very next day they've scammed their way out of jail," said Fletcher. "They are using a lie to avoid the booking process, end up at the hospital and then wait for the moment officers have to leave. And then they leave, too, only to commit more crimes."

Fletcher told KSTP he wanted the public to know this puts them at a greater risk and he wants support for a possible solution he would like implemented.

"I think the county needs to hire a full-time, licensed physician who works solely at the Ramsey County Jail," said Fletcher. "This would allow us to give the criminals the medical attention they should have, but it also gives us a chance to book them into jail while they're receiving their medical attention."