Free shred event nets nearly 20 tons of paper

On Saturday, January 26, 2013, the Boca Raton Police Department and the MicroShred Corporation teamed up to help prevent identity theft by hosting a free document shredding event. The event, which was held at the Boca Raton Town Center Mall, attracted more than 500 people, armed with documents to be shredded. In all, the community dropped off 38,626 pounds (19.3 tons) of paper. According to MicroShred, 19.3 tons of paper equates to saving over 328 trees and nearly 58 cubic feet in landfills.  This represents a three ton increase over last year’s shred event. Also, this year nearly 30 computer hard drives were destroyed.

By shredding and properly disposing of all sensitive documents, individuals take a key step toward protecting their identity. According to reports from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, more than 15 million people reported having their identities either stolen or misused last year. Florida had the highest per capita rate of reported identity thefts in the United States. The overall losses from identity theft last year were close to $37 billion. For more information on Identity Theft visit www.BocaPolice.com