MIDDLE TWP.--Authorities in Middle Township are investigating how documents from Municipal Hall containing personal information like social security numbers, landed in a public dumpster. The information, which was handed over to officials, could've easily landed in the wrong hands.

"Oh, I got some more social security numbers." When Carla Carpenter came to the Middle Township Recycling Center Thursday night, it was to drop off some boxes. She had no idea that while dropping off her trash, she would stumble upon a proverbial treasure of personal information, in a large bag clearly from Municipal Hall. "It was right on top in this corner here," she showed us, "I found police reports with the person's name, social security number, their home address, telephone number," said Carpenter sifting through the documents, "perfect for identity theft."

So, Carpenter took the bag full of police reports, tax records, and other materials, saying there's no telling what could happen if the wrong person got their hands on this very personal information. "It makes me think that my information is not safe," said Carpenter, "I don't trust the government because of it. The government should know, you shred and they're not shredding. They're putting out information that anyone can use."

Township Administrator Mark Mallett came to the recycling center to check out what was found. "I would take a look at the type of report it is," he said.
"It has a social security number on it," Carpenter told him, "should it be shredded?"
"Anything with personal information for residents, employees, yes, it should be shredded," he answered.

Township officials confirm this wasn't the first time these kinds of documents were found in the dumpster and the bag found Thursday wasn't the last. Just today a bag was found with more, unshredded document, some dated as recently as yesterday afternoon. "It is a serious concern," said Mallett, "we take this very seriously and that's why we're going to take it and have the police do an investigation."

Today Authorities scooped up the bags, which officials say they immediately started sorting through. Captain Paul Fritsch with the Middle Township Police Department said, "We are checking into this. There were police department documents found that should have been shredded. We're investigating how these ended up not only unshredded, but also in a public recycling container."

"What I can do is continue to reinforce the importance of needed to shred this type of information," said Mallett.

But for Carpenter, it's little reassurance for what she believes could lead to a major problem. "I would like to see a guarantee that this will never happen again," she said, "I don't wanna come over here and find my social security number in this trash bag."

Officials say only documents containing personal, confidential information need to be shredded, and during the last find, there was nothing like that discarded. They say this instance is different, and vow to get to the bottom of it.