- Indiana man cited for possessing red and blue lights and a police radio in his Ford Explorer resembling a police vehicle.
You can buy a lot of things over the counter that have no business being on a private vehicle, and a light bar that flashes red and blue is near the top of that list. A resident of Dubois County, Indiana apparently agreed with that concern, because a citizen tip is what pointed troopers toward a black 2016 Ford Explorer kitted out to look an awful lot like an unmarked squad car.
According to the Indiana State Police Jasper District, Trooper Kayla Denk-Mundy cited a Jasper man on two counts after an investigation that started with that tip: displaying red and blue lights on a vehicle, and possession of a police radio. Notably, the state police say no one has come forward alleging the man actually pulled anyone over or pretended to be a cop. He was cited for having the gear, not for a documented traffic stop.
That distinction matters more than it might seem, and it gets at why Indiana treats emergency lighting the way it does. The color of the lights on a moving vehicle is essentially a public signal system, and the state reserves specific colors for specific jobs. The Jasper District laid out the whole hierarchy: red and blue is law enforcement, red and white is fire and EMS, blue is for authorized volunteer firefighters, green is for authorized EMTs and paramedics, and amber is the catch-all for utility, construction, and recovery rigs. If you have ever wondered why the tow truck hooking up your dead sedan glows amber instead of blue, that is the reason. The colors are legally spoken for…