Flashing yellow at DCR

On the spectrum of political scandals, the misuse of flashing blue lights by park rangers who drive trucks equipped with them is certainly over on the mild side. But we do find it astonishing that the Department of Conservation and Recreation still can’t seem to trust its own employees to follow the rules — even after one official lost his job for breaking them.

The Herald reported last Friday that DCR has grounded its park ranger truck fleet, so it can replace the blue emergency lights with cautionary yellow lights.

Sources told the Herald’s Joe Battenfeld the move came after a park ranger made improper use of his emergency lights during the last snowstorm. The sources told Battenfeld that Commissioner Leo Roy made the decision to take the trucks out of service temporarily to replace the lights, after witnessing what he felt was an abuse of the blue lights. Recall that the agency’s deputy commissioner lost his job last year after using sirens and lights in an apparent effort to get around a traffic jam.

Normally we’d be reassured by Roy’s decisive action, but remember that the commissioner himself was suspended for a week last year after helping to arrange a private outing on the eve of the Fourth of July at which some DCR equipment was put to use.

We do hope Roy’s action here is a sign that he understands the importance of maintaining the public’s trust and adhering to the highest ethical standards, even on a matter as seemingly petty as flipping on the blue lights (or using a DCR golf cart to ferry one’s Republican friends around). Of course we wonder why that ranger in the last snowstorm hadn’t already gotten that message.