By Fernadno Alba
The Press-Republican
DANNEMORA, N.Y. — An inmate accused of knocking a correction officer unconscious and fracturing his jaw at Clinton Correctional Facility last spring has been charged in connection with the incident following a grand jury indictment Dec. 13.
The union representing correctional officers said in April that the inmate, 25-year-old Ali Cisse, is serving a 12-year prison sentence for an armed robbery charge from 2014.
The union said Cisse had attacked the officer in the prison’s recreation yard shortly after 8 p.m. before attempting to blend in with other inmates afterward. The inmate was identified by staff shortly after.
State Police said Cisse had confronted the officer before punching him in the head and face.
Another correctional officer saw the officer drop to the ground. The officer was unconscious by the time fellow officers arrived to him. The officer was taken to a local hospital, where he was treated for two jaw fractures and bruising and swelling around the eyes.
Cisse was charged with second-degree assault, a felony, after the Clinton County grand jury’s indictment on Dec. 13.
“Sadly, violence against staff has become the norm, and our members face that danger each and every day they step foot inside a facility,” John Roberts, Northern Region vice president of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, said in a statement.
“Despite the recent admission by the State of this existing threat, nothing is being done proactively to prevent this from happening in the first place.”
The number of reported assaults against correction officers in New York state prisons in a single year reached an all-time high earlier in December with 1,067 inmate-on-staff assaults recorded as of Dec. 5, according to the union.
The number is more than double what was reported 10 years ago, which was 528, even as inmate populations dwindle in New York prisons.
Roberts believes violence in prisons will increase once the HALT Solitary Confinement Act, which limits and restricts the amount of time and situations inmates can be placed in solitary confinement, becomes fully implemented next year.
“Currently, our only recourse is for prosecutors to hold these violent individuals accountable for their actions,” Roberts said. “We’re grateful for these steps the Clinton County District Attorney’s Office has taken.”
(c)2021 the Press-Republican (Plattsburgh, N.Y.)