Criminals with chronic illness: Are they too expensive for jail?

We had a similar patient in my ER. While high on Crack, he tried to stab a cop (He actually lunged at him with a knife!) After they took him down, they figured out he had HIV Hep B & C and a psych history. They dropped him off at my ER and left. Didn’t even leave a cop with us! So I had to call psych to see a patient who’s chief complaint was “he tried to stab a cop”. I restrained him and wouldn’t untie him till he was shipped to a psych facility.