Real-Life Decision Making
As a newly appointed environmental protection officer, you are eager to do a good job and to make sure that you do all you can to protect the environment from lawbreakers.
You have been stationed in a community that has a number of lakes and marshes. Hunting waterfowl is a popular activity among the people from your area.
It is now hunting season, and you have spent the day around the lake to keep an eye on hunters. There is a daily limit of four ducks per day per hunter. When you catch a hunter who has exceeded the limit, you seize the guns and birds and send the hunter to court.
In late afternoon, you are considering heading home for the evening. However, as you turn a bend, you see a duck hunter approaching you, his hunting dog -- a beautiful black spaniel -- trotting along happily by his side.
As the man nears, you notice that the bag of ducks he is carrying looks bigger than you would expect. "Hello, sir," you say. "Please open your bag and show me your ducks."
The man speaks rapidly in a language you do not understand. Apparently, he understands only a little English and has great difficulty communicating in that language. You do not speak his language, so it is difficult to get your message across.
However, when you point to the bag, the hunter understands your gestures and opens the bag to display five ducks -- one over the limit.
You try to explain that the limit is four. You hold up four fingers and make every effort to show him what you mean. The man responds with rapid speech that you cannot understand, and points to his spaniel.
You think to yourself, "I cannot understand what this man is saying. If I want to investigate further, I can take him back at the office and find someone who can interpret. But on the other hand, the evidence is clear. He has five dead ducks in his bag. I am justified in seizing the guns and birds and sending him to court."
What do you do?