TPD addresses sensitive documentation found in trash

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) -Toledo Police Department is revisiting its safety procedures after authorized documentation was found in the trash.

A local blogger posted a video of documents he found in trash bins outside of Toledo Police Department’s SWAT headquarters.

Blogger Aaron Collins showed 13abc the sensitive suspect information he found in the trash outside TPD’s Swat Building.

“All this information is here; if I wanted to, I could have peoples’ identities,” Collins said. He added that the information could put a person’s life in danger.

“If I were inclined to, I could say, ‘hey the police are looking for you’, or ‘hey, here’s where this guy is. Go get your man’”.”

Collins told 13abc he found the documents last week: paperwork with social security numbers, birthdays, alias, and addresses. He said there were even documents with information about TPD officers.

“This one is a police officer’s home address,” Collins said.

Lt. Paul Davis says TPD’sTop Brass is not happy.

“It’s known that it should be destroyed and not thrown away where citizens could find it. So that will be addressed the department-wide and reiterated the proper procedure to destroy those items,” Lt. Davis says.

Collins also found in the trash 27 buttstocks for AR 15′s.

“Those were all old and inoperable buttstocks that our SWAT team has had for years. It was essentially garbage that was thrown away. They’re not operable. It does not function in aiding the firearm to fire or not fire. And they disposed of it in the garbage cans. So that’s going to be addressed with those swat team members and the range personnel a way to dispose of that more properly?”

Collins said TPD retrieved the documents. However, he still has questions.

“They preach officer safety. I can knock on some doors right now and dispel that myth of officer safety because they don’t care to destroy their own information. Much less ours,” he said.

TPD administrators say they have a lot of new officers on the force, and they will have to do some retraining when it comes to people’s personal information.

The blogger described the information and gun equipment as information that nobody should have their hands on.

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