Report: A DCR Official Used His Lights and Sirens to Beat Traffic
![The roof of a police patrol car at night, with the blue and red lights flashing.](https://cdn10.bostonmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/police-lights-1.jpg)
photo via iStock.com/kali9
The deputy commissioner of the DCR, the agency that’s become a thorn in Gov. Charlie Baker’s side since revelations about a questionable party on July 3, has resigned.
Matthew Sisk, a Republican State Committee member who was one of two top officials at the Department of Conservation and Recreation who were suspended for that now-infamous bash, has stepped down after another scandal emerged: Video obtained by WCVB that appears to show him using a government vehicle’s emergency lights to beat traffic in Boston’s Fort Point neighborhood.
ICYMI: Here’s the video that forced the resignation of @MassDCR‘s deputy commissioner. https://t.co/9yKc8Z1Byi #5Investigates #WCVB #mapoli pic.twitter.com/7xpctUDwRw
— Mike Beaudet (@Channel_Mike) October 2, 2016
The SUV in the video, traveling on Congress Street, has its lights and sirens turned on, forcing cars ahead of it to pull over to the side of the road.
“Governor Baker is disappointed to learn of the deputy commissioner’s poor judgment in inappropriately using a state vehicle. He accepts his resignation and looks forward to a thorough review to ensure lights and sirens are strictly used for emergency purposes,” Baker spokeswoman Lizzy Guyton said in a statement to media.
Sisk announced his resignation on Friday. His job paid $112,200 a year, according to the State House News Service. He probably won’t be charged with a crime, but could be fined for misusing the sirens, according to WCVB.
Amid fallout from the DCR party, news has surfaced that staff in the Department of Energy and Environmental Affairs may have waged a campaign of retribution against a staffer whose husband challenged a Republican in a state senate race.