Thousands Attend Jefferson County DA's Safety Fair
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - A massive shredder tore apart documents containing personal information at the Jefferson County District Attorney's Safety Fair on Saturday. The fair was free to anyone who wanted to learn how to protect themselves from identity theft.
Free credit reports were also offered. Thousands of people turned out for the event, including CBS4 consumer investigator Jodi Brooks.
The cars lined up as pounds of paper were first loaded into a trash can and then dumped into a giant shredder. People handed over their personal papers by the box load to be destroyed.
"Mainly just documents with our names and Social Security numbers on it -- old checks, that type of thing," Bill Wollenhaupt said.
In one hour three shredding trucks were full. It was just one of many free services offered at the fair
"The whole focus of this is frankly to keep people safe," District Attorney Scott Storey said.
Eighty vendors offered information.
"Pretty much they can do just about anything to get your identity, and we understand that Colorado is No. 3 in the nation for identity theft," Wayne Smith said.
It was also a chance for Brooks to meet CBS4 viewers and hear their concerns and story ideas.
It's estimated nearly 5,000 attended the fair.
"Everything is geared around crime prevention and it feels good, doesn't it?" Storey said. "I think we've made an impact. It's hard to measure."
"Oh it's worth it even though I had to wait in the car line out here this morning 20 minutes to get in here off of 6th and Indiana," Earl McDonnell from Lakewood said.
Brooks is always looking for ideas. If you have a tip you'd like our consumer investigator to check out, give us a call at (303) 863-TIPS or send an email to consumerinvestigator@cbsdenver.com.
