Long Island police documents end up as Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade confetti

November 26, 2012 (NEW YORK)

A lawyer and his son picked up confetti that contained confidential information about cases and police officers.

As the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade made its way down the Upper West Side last week, Saul Finkelstein and his family made a very odd discovery.

"It's everywhere, everywhere you look," Finkelstein said.

They expect to be coated with confetti at their usual perch at 65th and Central Park West, but this time, something was seriously wrong.

"One of my son's friends found some with a social security number on it," Finkelstein said.

Turns out the tiny bits of paper were shredded documents from the Nassau County Police Department, loaded with the names, phone numbers, even social security numbers of cops.

Now, they're all over Central Park West.

Sources tell Eyewitness News two officers, planning to attend the parade with their kids, grabbed a bag of shredded documents to throw as confetti, but they didn't realize the documents had improperly shredded to begin with.

Nassau Police have already ordered a review of document security, and officers whose identities were compromised will be given free credit monitoring for life.

Saul Finkelstein says he's glad his family figured it all out.

"Why they would use this kind of material is something we'll never know," Finkelstein said.

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