Assignment:
I. Scenario Select one (1) of the scenarios and answer the following questions.
A. Identify the ethical dilemma raised by the facts and explain what the ethical dilemma is.
B. What makes this dilemma ethical? What ethics does this dilemma challenge?
C. Describe the factors that led to the dilemma. How can these factors inform your course of action?
D. What implications should be considered when determining your course of action? Why?
SCENARIO
You are working the midnight shift as a police officer. You receive a call to respond to a one-car accident where the car left the roadway and impacted with a tree. Upon your arrival, you see the badly damaged car up against the tree. There are no skid marks apparent and no witnesses around. You approach the car and find the apparent driver behind the wheel. You immediately recognize the driver to be the mayor of your town. You immediately notice signs that the mayor is impaired by alcohol, including the smell of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath, the slurring of his speech, and the lethargy he is exhibiting. The mayor tells you that he swerved to avoid a dog, lost control and hit the tree. The mayor is not injured. When you ask the mayor if he has consumed alcohol, he tells you that he was at retirement dinner and only had one glass of wine. The mayor asks you to just complete an accident report and give him a ride home.
You question him further, telling him you are concerned that he was driving while impaired. The mayor tells you that he is not impaired and not to worry about anything because you never actually saw him driving. The mayor goes on to tell you that he will not say anything to anyone, and he lets you know that he has a lot of influence with what goes on at the police station, and that he has had his eye on you as an up-and-comer. You know that you could just complete an accident report identifying the cause of the accident as swerving to avoid an animal in the roadway. If you do not tell anyone that the mayor was drinking and he does not tell anyone, what is the worst that could happen?