Personal Documents Found In Dumpster,Sacramento Parks Department: This Shouldn't Have Happened

6-25-2010
About 100 people's personal information was thrown out along with unused, unopened books and learning materials, a KCRA 3 investigation revealed.

A KCRA 3 insider watched Sacramento Department of Parks and Recreation employees putting the materials in a Dumpster outside a parks building.

KCRA 3 found several folders with important documents. One contained names, Social Security numbers, phone numbers, birth dates, addresses, monthly incomes and even copies of driver's licenses dating back to 2005.

The documents themselves indicated the information provided would be kept confidential.

Instead, the KCRA 3 insider said he watched employees dumping the documents into an easily accessible bin. He has asked not to be identified.

"They didn't even check what was in it," he said. "I know a lot of people get cardboard from those bins. So, anybody really could have found it."

City Parks and Recreation spokesman Hindolo Brima said, by policy, the papers should have been shredded.

"This was not supposed to happen. Staff has been taught how to handle confidential material," Brima said. "We will be investigating. We will make sure this doesn't occur again."

In the same Dumpster were also boxes filled with learning materials for children's programs operated by Parks and Recreation. Other people who work in the area said they see waste frequently.