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Albany County sheriff getting body cameras with AG grant
Feb 03, 2019 12:55 am
Amanda Fries reports in the Albany Times Union that Albany County correction officers are getting body cameras from a grant from the state Attorney General’s Office. Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple says the grant for the 43 cameras has been in the works for two years. Last month Albany County was included in a federal lawsuit that alleged that guards at Albany County Jail abused inmates sent there from Rikers Island. Apple says the sheriff’s department will take asset forfeiture funds and buy 140 more cameras. Corrections officers in the jail, as well as deputies out in public, and EMTs and paramedics, will all get body cameras. “We’ll be the first correctional facility in this area” employing body-worn cameras, Apple said. “There are a couple county jails that are using them that are much smaller, so our roll-out is a much heavier lift, but it’s time and my focus is on the jail. I’m anxious to get it in place.” Total cost to taxpayers: $420,000. Read the full story in the Albany Times Union.