• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechChanging Face of Security

New York Inmate Photo Surfaces on Facebook Despite Phone Ban

By
Reuters
Reuters
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Reuters
Reuters
Down Arrow Button Icon
May 24, 2016, 2:59 PM ET
Facebook Debuts As Public Company With Initial Public Offering On NASDAQ Exchange
MENLO PARK, CA - MAY 18: A 'like' sign stands at the entrance of Facebook headquarters May 18, 2012 in Menlo Park, California. The eight-year-old social network company listed their initial public offering on NASDAQ Friday morning at $38 a share and a valuation of $104 billion, making its IPO the third largest in U.S. history after General Motors and Visa. (Photo by Stephen Lam/Getty Images)Stephen Lam — Getty Images

The New York City Department of Corrections said on Tuesday it was investigating what appears to be a photo of inmates from Rikers Island jail taken with a cellphone, a device banned in city jails.

It was not clear how the group of male inmates was allowed to pose, who snapped the photo, or how it was uploaded to Facebook as reported by the New York Post on Monday. It was the latest in a string of problems, from a spike in violence to a crackdown on corrections officers running contraband networks, facing the department run by Commissioner Joseph Ponte since 2014.

“Commissioner Ponte has zero tolerance for the introduction of contraband into any DOC facility. This matter is under investigation,” Department of Corrections spokeswoman Eve Kessler said in an email. She declined to comment further.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

The New York Post reported that the four inmates in the photo, who appeared to be making the same hand gesture in the back of a bus, are members of the West Brighton Crew street gang facing gun charges and were on their way to court.

A friend of one of the inmates, the Post reported, posted the photo on Facebook, which generated about 100 “likes” before it was taken down. It said Department of Corrections officials discovered the photo last Thursday.

Last week, two guards and six inmates at the troubled Rikers Island jail complex were among 17 people charged with running extensive contraband networks involving weapons and drugs.

A Reuters analysis previously found that since 2012 more than 50 guards at the jail, which houses about 10,000 inmates, have faced criminal charges, including smuggling contraband.

According to city data, about 165 cellphones have been recovered by the Department of Corrections since 2011, including 12 this year through April 30.

For more, read: Should Convicts Be on Social Media? Facebook Stands Up for Prisoner Accounts

Governors around the country have urged the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to allow states to block cell signals in prisons to combat contraband phones.

The devices have been smuggled into jails and prisons in creative ways, including in underwear and legal papers, Ajit Pai, an FCC commissioner, said last month at a hearing on the issue in Columbia, South Carolina.

Contraband phones, sometimes used in violent crimes, also are used by inmates “to run phone scams and con innocent members of the public out of their hard-earned money,” Pai said.

About the Author
By Reuters
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

The Bezos-Musk space rivalry is shooting for the moon and the winner will not just dominate the cosmos—but the future of AI infrastructure
AIAerospace
The Bezos-Musk space rivalry is shooting for the moon and the winner will not just dominate the cosmos—but the future of AI infrastructure
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezApril 15, 2026
16 minutes ago
A sign hangs on the front door of a shuttered Allbirds store on April 02, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois.
AIRetail
Allbirds ditches sneaker business to pivot to AI compute, stock surges over 700%
By Eva RoytburgApril 15, 2026
20 minutes ago
Sal Khan
SuccessEducation
This CEO has teamed up with Google, Microsoft, and McKinsey to build an AI degree that could rival Harvard—and it will only cost $10,000 to attend
By Preston ForeApril 15, 2026
3 hours ago
Why insurance giant Travelers’ CTO is placing fewer, bigger bets on AI
NewslettersCIO Intelligence
Why insurance giant Travelers’ CTO is placing fewer, bigger bets on AI
By John KellApril 15, 2026
4 hours ago
horowitz
AIdisruption
a16z’s Ben Horowitz sees ‘AI anxiety’ consuming Silicon Valley founders. Workers’ fear of something else is killing adoption
By Nick LichtenbergApril 15, 2026
4 hours ago
News outlets like NYT and USA Today are blocking the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine to prevent AI training models from using their content
AIMedia
News outlets like NYT and USA Today are blocking the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine to prevent AI training models from using their content
By Dave Lozo and Morning BrewApril 15, 2026
5 hours ago

Most Popular

Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated again—a week after gifting millions to a college, she's just given $70 million to Meals on Wheels America
Success
Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated again—a week after gifting millions to a college, she's just given $70 million to Meals on Wheels America
By Fortune EditorsApril 13, 2026
2 days ago
Retirees are facing a $345,000 bill they never saw coming — and most aren't prepared
Commentary
Retirees are facing a $345,000 bill they never saw coming — and most aren't prepared
By Fortune EditorsApril 14, 2026
1 day ago
Palantir CEO says working at his $316 billion software company is better than a degree from Harvard or Yale: ‘No one cares about the other stuff’
Success
Palantir CEO says working at his $316 billion software company is better than a degree from Harvard or Yale: ‘No one cares about the other stuff’
By Fortune EditorsApril 14, 2026
1 day ago
Warren Buffett’s first tax return showed $7 owed to the IRS. The then paperboy and former Berkshire Hathaway CEO is now worth $143 billion
Success
Warren Buffett’s first tax return showed $7 owed to the IRS. The then paperboy and former Berkshire Hathaway CEO is now worth $143 billion
By Fortune EditorsApril 14, 2026
1 day ago
Anthropic is facing a wave of user backlash over reports of performance issues with its Claude AI chatbot
AI
Anthropic is facing a wave of user backlash over reports of performance issues with its Claude AI chatbot
By Fortune EditorsApril 14, 2026
1 day ago
He was coding at 12 like Elon Musk and became one of Google’s youngest-ever CMOs—but now says Gen Z is better off ice skating than learning to code
Success
He was coding at 12 like Elon Musk and became one of Google’s youngest-ever CMOs—but now says Gen Z is better off ice skating than learning to code
By Fortune EditorsApril 14, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.