Buffalo officials are trying to figure out why police information was left on the hard drives of two of the department’s old copy machines, which have turned up as part of an investigation by CBS News.

CBS, which this week telecast a report about the resale of used digital photocopiers, purchased four at New Jersey warehouse. Two of them had been leased by the Buffalo Police Department.

Stored on one of the hard drives were details involving domestic-violence complaints along with a list of wanted sex offenders.

Another computer contained a list of targets from a drug raid three years earlier.

It raises the question: How many old copy machines that contain potentially sensitive information from city offices might be in circulation?

Mayor Byron W. Brown would not discuss the issue Tuesday, saying city attorneys are investigating the issue.

However, some sources believe that there could be dozens of copiers that were once used in city government that have since been resold.

Brown’s communications director, Peter K. Cutler, said acting Corporation Counsel David Rodriguez has been directed to contact Toshiba Business Solutions, the company that continues to lease copiers to the city.

“The Law Department will take steps to track down where all these machines are located,” Cutler told The Buffalo News.

Common Council President David A. Franczyk said he wants answers, too.

“The question is, ‘Did the vendor make it plain whether those hard drives were there?’ That is unclear to me,” Franczyk said.

Niagara Council Member David A. Rivera is a retired Buffalo police detective who worked in both the Sex Crimes and Narcotics units — the offices that used the copiers in question.

Rivera said that it is unfortunate and alarming that police documents remained on the copiers’ hard drives.

“There’s very sensitive information that’s out there right now — information that must be kept confidential,” Rivera said.

The CBS investigation pointed out that copiers made since 2002 contain a hard drive that stores images of documents that are scanned on the machine. The hard drives are often filled with personal information — Social Security numbers, birth certificates, tax forms, bank records — making them a potential gold mine for identity theft.

Rivera and Franczyk said that in light of ongoing technological advancements, it’s more important than ever for the city to devise and rigidly implement policies to ensure that there is no confidential data on the hard drives of old computers, copiers or other digital devices.

“Scrubbing” the devices must be a top priority before they are re-leased, sold or disposed of, Rivera said.

Cutler reiterated the city’s position Tuesday that Buffalo officials had no knowledge that confidential information was being retained on the hard drives of the copiers.

Diane T. O’Gorman, an assistant corporation counsel who handles police matters, faxed a letter to the CBS News investigative unit Monday.

“We trust that CBS will not disseminate or disclose any specific data, including any names or address from the hard drives, as such data is confidential,” O’Gorman wrote. “We ask that you return the two hard drives containing our department’s confidential data that are currently in your possession, within five business days of the date of this correspondence.”