GAHANNA, Ohio (WCMH) — Tax season has come and gone which means many people have sensitive documents lying around their homes. NBC4 teamed up with Central Ohio Crime Stoppers for another year of assisting central Ohioans in getting rid of personal files.

“You get bank statements in the mail. Many people still get those. I still get them. Some of your medical records, tax forms, definitely anything with your Social Security number on them,” Napoleon Bell, president of Central Ohio Crime Stoppers, said.

Bell said it’s important to properly dispose of these documents because they can increase the risk of identity theft. He said there were around 1.1 million reports of identity theft in the U.S. last year alone.

“A lot of times people don’t feel as though they would be the victim of it, but sometimes it’s just one document that goes off into the air or the trash or somebody going through trash finds that document that could lead them down the path of trying to assume your identity,” Bell said.

Hundreds of cars gathered in Gahanna on Saturday morning to drop off boxes full of documents. The papers were shredded on-site in collaboration with CME Federal Credit Union, Royal Document Destruction and Moo Moo Car Wash. Each driver also made a donation to Central Ohio Crime Stoppers to help their work solving felony crimes.

“We can continue doing crime prevention, education and then also pay our anonymous tipsters,” Bell said.

He said if you have any tips about local crime, give them a call at 614-461-8477.