11 shredding events scheduled in 2015, starting April 25

 

The Somerset County Board of Freeholdersand the county'sRecords Management Division invite residents to mark their calendars and to start collecting documents for easy, no-hassle shredding, starting April 25.

Shredding events will be held on 11 Saturdays through the "Operation Secure Shred" program, rain or shine. All shredding events are held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., or until the trucks are filled to capacity, at which time they will leave and the event will be over for that day.

Residents from all 21 Somerset County municipalities are invited to have personal documents shredded at as many free, on-site mobile paper-shredding events as they wish to attend. Residents do not have to reside in a town hosting an event to participate.

"Properly disposing of personal documents is a necessary step in safeguarding and protecting your personal information and credit and preventing identify theft," said Freeholder Patrick Scaglione, records management liaison. "We are pleased to be able to provide this very popular service to our residents again this year, in collaboration with our municipalities.

“Since the program began in 2007, approximately 950,000 pounds of materials have been dropped off for shredding by about 12,500 residents, thereby keeping personal information out of the hands of unauthorized people who could potentially wreak financial havoc,” said Freeholder Scaglione.

 

The kick-off event will be held at a county facility.  For the convenience of residents, subsequent events will be hosted by various municipalities around the county, with assistance from Somerset County.

The county-hosted first shredding event will be April 25 at the Somerset County Public Works Garage, located at 410 Roycefield Road in Hillsborough. The South County Public Works Garage can be reached from Route 206 to Dukes Parkway West, left to Roycefield Road. Complete directions are available at http://bit.ly/SCPubWorks 

Additional shredding events will be held at 10 municipal locations as follows: May 2 in Hillsborough at the Auten Road School - 281 Auten Road; May 9 at the Montgomery Fire Co. No. 1 in Belle Mead – 35 Griggstown Road; June 13 at the Watchung Police Department - 840 Somerset St.; June 20 in Raritan at the Washington School - 614 First Ave.; June 27 at the Bedminster Public Works Building - 75 Miller Lane; Sept. 5 in Somerset at the Franklin Municipal Building - 475 DeMott Lane; Sept. 12 at the Bridgewater Municipal Building - 100 Commons Way; Oct. 3 at the Branchburg Municipal Building - 1077 U.S. Highway 202 North; Oct. 10 in Basking Ridge at the Bernards Engineering Services Building - 277 S. Maple Ave.; and Oct. 17 at the Green Brook Municipal Building - 111 Greenbrook Road.

Documents will be commercially shredded safely, privately and properly by trained, licensed and bonded document-destruction specialists. Staples and paperclips do not have to be removed. Residents may bring documents in up to six boxes, containers or bags per visit and will be asked to take back their receptacles.

Participants may stay and watch as their documents are shred, if they wish. The following recyclable items will not be accepted: junk mail, magazines and newspapers.

For more information about locations of the municipal shredding events, contact the towns directly. A listing of towns in Somerset County can be found on the county's website at www.co.somerset.nj.us/towndir.html. A schedule of shredding events and a brochure about shredding documents are available at http://bit.ly/2015Shredding

If you believe that you are a victim of identity theft, the Federal Trade Commission provides a comprehensive 68-page booklet titled "Taking Charge: What To Do If Your Identity Is Stolen" at http://bit.ly/2015TakeCharge

  For further information, contact the Somerset County Records Management Division at 908-203-6018 or recordsmgmt@co.somerset.nj.us.