ARTESIA HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS WELCOMES
Dr. Sergio Rybka TO OUR TEAM
pursuits and our ability to reach convictions.” He explains that the way the videos are uploaded maintains a clean chain of custody of evidence for later use in court. In one instance, officers who pulled over and eventually arrested a drug-trafficking suspect were careful to focus the camera on the hood of a unit, where they proceeded to search the cuffed man. “They were pulling bags and bags of drugs out of this guy’s pockets,” related Balencia, “and placing them on the hood so the bags could be on camera. As they searched him, he thought he’d just try and get some of those bags in his mouth. Later in court, he tried to lie and say he didn’t have drugs. The video showed what really happened.”
Sergio Rybka, MD
BOARD CERTIFIED UROLOGIST Dr. Rybka earned his Medical Degree from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He performed his Internship with Greater Baltimore Medical Center in Maryland, his Residency in General Surgery and Urology at the University of Maryland and a Fellowship in Kidney Transplant at the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Rybka is a Diplomate of the American Board of Urology, and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. His is also fluent in Spanish.
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Anyone who has worked with a home computer can understand the frustration of butting up against the system’s limitations or dealing with malfunctions, but CPD’s experience with WatchGuard has been mostly a positive one. The system has one drawback, however. “With the widespread use of cameras comes the expectation that practically everything in a case gets recorded,” stated Blackmon, “and that’s just not always possible.” Some things still have to be reported the old-fashioned way. Events that occur outside the capabilities of the lens and microphone, but still affect the situation at hand, can be critical components of documentation and testimony. WatchGuard 4E units include portable microphones, which the company has freely upgraded over time. Balencia and Blackmon praise the microphones for their ease of use, including both portability and automatic synchronization when moved from one unit to another. In
addition, the new mics effectively screen out most background noise and record conversation better than other models they’ve used. WatchGuard cameras are currently installed on all CPD units at a cost of $4,995 each. “We didn’t have a grant,” added Blackmon, explaining that the department made this high-tech method of evidence collection a budgetary priority. The WatchGuard company continues to provide ongoing service and technical support to CPD. Blackmon and Balencia view it as a worthy investment and an asset to policing.