WashTimes

Internal U.S. Capitol Police documents marked as “law enforcement sensitive” containing maps from near where a congressional leader lives to a relative’s house were found near a curb recently in front of a 7-Eleven convenience store in Washington.

The 10 pages of U.S. Capitol Police dignitary protection unit papers also include information on the security systems in place at a hospital along the mapped route in Maryland.

The documents, which contain the name of a relative of House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, were dated Nov. 19 and appear to detail Mr. Hoyer’s travels two days later. The papers were found near a curb on Maryland Avenue and Eighth Street in Northeast Washington by an employee of The Washington Times.

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“We have determined that there was no security breach, nor was there ever any danger to the member [of Congress],” said Capitol Police spokesman Sgt. Kimberly Schneider.

“The potential for this to occur exists with every agency,” she said.

But Gary Poole, director of security for the Shore Health System in Easton, Md., called the information release troubling and said he planned to call for an explanation from Capitol Police officials.

The documents found on the roadside included information on the hospital’s internal systems that Mr. Poole said would not be released to the public.

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Mr. Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, declined to comment through a spokeswoman.

Experts who reviewed the papers at the request of The Times said the documents did not pose security risks but said the information wouldn’t have been considered public.

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“Our documents are composed to purposely safeguard against an inadvertent release of information and do not contain information that would associate it with the member,” [Schneider] said.

Still, The Times was able to identify one of the people named in the document as a relative of Mr. Hoyer’s through a simple Internet search of that person’s name.