Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said he was “saddened” and “horrified” by the video he watched of corrections officer beating an inmate. 

“I’m horrified that a group of professional correction officers in 2024 could act like that,” he told NewsChannel 13’s Dan Levy. “You know, there might be a lot of people thinking ‘you know what? This is not an isolated situation. It probably goes on all the time, but just not on camera.’” 

Apple operates one of the largest county jails in upstate New York. Apple said they do have issues. An officer was disciplined a month or two ago for excessive force.  

“I don’t want to say regularly it doesn’t occur, but force is used on a regular occurrence. Unfortunately, inmates become unruly,” he said.  

Apple said he does not know what happened outside of what was shown on the videos, but it should not have come to this.  

He also said that he is upset that out of a group of 14 people, nobody did anything to stop this. 

“You know, you’re in violation of not on your oath of office, but where is the humanity?” 

He said his department trains in de-escalation techniques, including using virtual reality. They also do sensitivity training.  

Apple said that with changes in some of the state laws, inmates have become more “brazen” because they know they cannot get locked in.  

Prisons have lost the ability to put inmates into segregated housing. When inmates are throwing feces at officers, or make homemade weapons, Apple said there needs to be some punishment.  

“Certainly not a beating,” he said. 

The job is dangerous. Apple said corrections officers are working 16-hour shifts. They go home, get a few hours of sleep and come back exhausted.  

“And that’s why we’re trying so hard to recruit and nobody wants the job. And this is why they don’t want it,” he said. 

The New York State Investigators Association also released a statement.  

Our criminal justice system was founded on the notion of the safe and humane treatment of all people, and this was a breach of that trust. The New York State Police Investigators worked around the clock during the December holidays to ensure that facts and evidence were identified and made available to the state attorneys in order to ensure justice is served. 

The New York State Sheriff’s Association also released a statement ahead of the video’s release.  

“No human being should be treated that way by another human being. And it is made even worse by the fact that the extreme cruelty was inflicted by those entrusted with the power of government, against those they were entrusted to guard and protect,” said Delaware County Sheriff Craig DuMond, president of the association.   

Dumond said that sheriffs know the difficulties the state faces in safely and humanely managing inmates and correctional facilities under current circumstances. They are facing staffing issues and forced overtime.   

He also pointed to steps taken by the state to restrict discipline of inmates.   

“At the same time, many inmates are emboldened by recent state laws that ban virtually all inmate discipline, thus removing most effective tools for managing prison and jail populations. Corrections Officers are frustrated and exhausted. It is a difficult job that we ask these good public servants to do and do right. We are grateful for those Corrections Officers who do show up for work, and who perform their jobs professionally and treat all inmates safely, humanely and respectfully. We regret that the recent action of a few has unfairly tarnished the reputation of the many good Officers.”  

He is also asking jail administrators and corrections officers to ensure inmates are safe in the jails. Dumond said he anticipates that the next few days will be difficult for everyone in these facilities and asked that “reason and calm” prevail.