Port St. Lucie hosts 'Shred-a-thon'
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Reported by:
Bryan Garner
Last Update: 6/16 6:04 pm |
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PORT ST. LUCIE, FL -- The lines
at Port St. Lucie's Civic Center formed early.
Dozens of people showed up armed with bags,
boxes and even trucks full of documents that
have clogged up their homes and businesses for
years.
"Since 1995," said Dr. Michael Sears, who
brought 300 pounds of documents with him.
There were bank statements, medical records,
power bills and files -- anything with sensitive
information such as social security numbers that
people couldn't just throw in the trash.
"Oh no," said Reatha Duncan, "Someone might get
your account numbers and charge something."
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Robert Velez with documents to
shred.
Many of those in line have tried
home shredders, with little success. Belinda
Bowen says she blew out two of them trying to
shred her pile of old documents.
That's why the city of Port St. Lucie called in
some professional help.
The company
Shred Assured out of West Palm Beach donated
the services of its "Shred Tech 25 GT." It's a
massive mobile shredder, stored on a box truck.
"It has shredding jaws and it pierces and tears
the paper and makes it into little particles,"
said
Nancy Erwin of Shred Assured.
The company accepted documents from citizens
free of charge from about 10:00 am until nearly
1 pm today.
"We shredded 7680 pounds," said Erwin.
Residents who unloaded their boxes of documents
seemed noticeably relieved.
"Now I can park my car in my garage," said
Belinda Bowen.
PSL officers invite public to destroy sensitive documents
Posted: June 11, 2009
The Port St. Lucie Police Department has a new weapon to use against criminals, and officers are asking residents to use it to protect themselves.
The weapon is an industrial-sized paper shredder, and the public is invited to the Civic Center on Tuesday, June 16 for the department’s first annual Shred-a-thon, where anyone can destroy sensitive documents – free of charge.
The department’s Victims’ Assistance Unit is arranging the event with the volunteer help of ShredAssured, a Wellington firm that specializes in the secure destruction of confidential data. The idea is to help residents get rid of documents with credit card and bank account numbers, dates of birth, social security numbers, addresses and other personal details that criminals use to commit identity theft.
The shredder is mounted in a truck and can destroy thousands of pages an hour. Residents will be able to drop in their documents themselves, and then watch a video monitor that shows the shredding process inside the truck. This way, no other person handles the documents, and participants can feel secure their papers are destroyed forever.
Because the machine is an industrial model, paper clips and staples do not have to be removed first, minimizing the amount of effort involved.
The event will take place from 10 a.m. to noon on Tuesday in front of the Civic Center, which is at the southeast corner of Walton Road and U.S. Highway 1. Donations will be accepted by officers from the Victims’ Assistance Unit to help crime victims.
For more information, call the police department at (772) 344-4331 or ShredAssured at (800) 838-3840.
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