When you ask someone about James Campbell, it's likely you'll hear something like this.

"There haven't been many that I view in the same way that I view Jim Campbell," said State Sen. Neil Breslin.

Breslin says he met the Watervliet native -- who died early Thursday morning, according to current Sheriff Craig Apple -- about 40 years ago. Campbell was more than the Albany County sheriff. Campbell was his friend.

"If you didn't feel his warmth and his humankind immediately, there was something missing in you," Breslin said.

Campbell became sheriff in 1990, and held the position longer than anyone else in Albany County history. He helped create a drug unit, and was instrumental in getting a permanent presence at Albany International Airport.

"It's one of the reasons we have such a wonderful sheriff now in Craig Apple," Breslin said.

"You know, a lot of us were raised under him," Apple said. "You know, I mean, every promotion I got, I got from him."

Apple took over the department when Campbell retired in 2011. He calls his old boss his mentor.

"Senior law enforcement just had a set way of doing things and it was 'throw them away, throw away the key and lock them up,' " Apple said. "And that wasn't Jim. And that's what kinda got us changing our whole mindset."

They also had their laughs. When Campbell said he liked the hemi engine put in then-Undersheriff Apple's car, they tried to fix the problem of not having one installed in the new sheriff vehicle.

"We sent the maintenance guy up to the Dodge dealer and said, 'Get a Hemi sticker real quick.' And we put the Hemi on his car and he never knew the difference," Apple said. "As years went on he was like, 'That's like the time you put the Hemi sticker.' And we were like, 'Damn it! He knew that.' "

As for Campbell's legacy, those who knew him say he'll be remembered for becoming an officer for the right reasons.

"He never knew he was as important to the community as all of us did," Breslin said. "That's a good way to put it, I think."

Funeral services have not yet been announced.