What’s wrong with this picture? Just about everything.
The four thugs are Rikers Island inmates flashing gang signs in the back of a Correction Department bus — and another prisoner is suspected of taking the photo with a contraband cell-phone, The Post has learned.
The Department of Correction is now investigating whether an officer may have slipped the phone to Rameen Smith, a reputed leader of West Brighton Crew leader who was on the bus at the time, sources said.
“It is a major breach of security — it is contraband,’’ a source said of the phone. “It could be used by prisoners to sell calls to other prisoners, which could lead to fights.”
Even worse, it could be used to make unrecorded calls directing “friends to threaten witnesses” or provide details about prisoner transports that could be used to stage a jailbreak, the source said.
Another source added, “This is serious because today it’s phone, and tomorrow it could be a gun — and then what happens?”
The shot shows the quartet of jailbirds — reputed members of Smith’s crew, a subset of the infamous Crips gang — mugging for the camera during a trip to Staten Island Criminal Court, sources said.
Officials discovered the picture Thursday, the same day an indictment was announced charging two correction officers, a jailhouse cook and 14 others in an smuggling scheme that provided prisoners on Rikers with razor-sharp scalpels and illegal drugs in exchange for thousands of dollars in bribes.
A friend of Smith’s posted the photo on Facebook, where it generated about 100 “likes” before being taken down, sources said. The image was also shared and captioned “FREE MY BOYS.”
Sources identified the inmates in the photo as Richard Degroet, Isaiah Kelson, Alston Rayscan and Naquan Young. They are charged with possessing a gun that cops found in a car.
Smith is currently on trial in a murder-conspiracy case.
Officials searched all of the inmates’ cells for the phone but couldn’t find it, although Smith is expected to face charges over some pot that was seized from his cell, sources said.
Due to the photo, Smith will be specially brought to court Monday by members of the DOC’s Emergency Services Unit, which one source called a “waste of manpower and money.”
The DOC said in a statement, “Commissioner [Joseph] Ponte has zero tolerance for the introduction of contraband into any DOC facility. This matter is under investigation.”
New York State Court Officers Association President Dennis Quirk blasted the breakdown in security, saying: “This is another example of the poor job done by Corrections in searching people before bringing them to court.
“The morale in Corrections is very low, and that is because of the budget cuts and how the commissioner treats correction officers,” Quirk added.
The DOC called Quirk’s allegations “dated if not outright false.”
“This administration and Commissioner Ponte have invested prodigiously in reforming our department, reducing violence, strengthening officer safety, and raising officer morale — as has been reported extensively for the past two years,” the department said.
Additional reporting by Bruce Golding