Deschutes County SO to help shred your unwanted documents

It could happen to anyone: You check your bank account one day and see charges you definitely don’t remember making.

“Identity theft is a big problem,” Deschutes County sheriff’s patrol Sgt. Jayson Janes said Friday. “It’s something that we deal with every day.”

And a lot of times, it happens because people are careless with their mail.

“Shred your documents that are important, or dispose of them in a way that someone can’t use that information,” Janes advised.

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office wants to make sure you don’t become the next victim, so they’re holding a personal document shred event Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon at the sheriff’s office off Highway 20. You can bring up to four medium boxes of your personal documents, and they’ll even have some identity theft protection tips for you.

If you don’t have a paper shredder, and can’t make the event on Saturday, there are still steps you can take to ensure your safety from ID thieves.

“A good thing to do is to tear it up until it’s not readable or usable,” Janes said. “Or use a sharpie and mark out pertinent information that could be used.”

The sheriff’s office will also have a deputy on hand Saturday, collecting your outdated or unwanted prescription medications. This drug disposal program is meant to keep these medications away from abusers, children — and animals.

Though they may seem harmless, because they’re legal, all across the country, prescription drugs are being abused and are seen by many as a gateway to bigger problems.

“A lot of people that get hooked on prescription drugs end up moving on to heroin and other drugs like that,” Janes said.

The disposal program also keeps the drugs out of the landfills and water systems.