Security Guards With Trained Dogs Now Patrol The Home Depot Lot

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — On this crisp, but sunshiny spring morning, the Home Depot in New Rochelle is bustling. Families enjoying a day off from school are picking out starter plants for the garden. In the parking lot, a plumber is taking advantage of a rare break in the weather to touch up the paint on his truck, a steady stream of builders rustle carts loaded with lumber and pipes and supplies out though the open overhead door, and day laborers gather near the entrance hoping to find work with contractors heading out to job sites.

But, the edge of the scene strikes an ominous tone. Three black-uniformed security guards form something of a phalanx in front of the store entrance, and across the main drive, two others stand with a leashed German Shepherd. The dog's harness reads "DO NOT PET" in bright yellow letters.

The contingent seems out of place among the DIY shoppers, landscapers and contractors, but according to recent media reports, this might be the new normal we can expect.

The New York Post reports that the store is employing the bulletproof-vest-clad security guards and guard dogs in an effort to "protect shoppers from aggressive migrants and thieves flooding their parking lots."

But, in a world where perception doesn't always match the reality of crime statistics, and toothpaste kept under lock at drugstore chains can be as much of a political message as a security measure, are the mean streets of the Home Depot parking lot really that lawless and are migrants to blame? Or, is this a case of theater to draw attention to a tempest in a teapot?

Patch set out to find out.

According to a Westchester Journal News report, day laborers and supporters staged a boisterous rally at the Home Depot in New Rochelle earlier this month, after they said a laborer was arrested for using the store's restroom.

Home Depot officials declined to address the demonstration or the incident that triggered the protest, but told Patch that there hasn't been a dramatic change in policy at the Georgia-based home improvement retail giant.

"Like many businesses in the community, we have a non-solicitation policy at our stores," Home Depot spokesperson Beth Marlowe said. "The safety of our associates and customers is our top priority, and we prohibit people from loitering, and in some instances, we post signs alerting customers about our policy. We also cooperate with local law enforcement, who takes the lead in addressing trespassing issues on our property."

The company said having extra security at an individual store can very much be business as usual.

"While we can't go into specifics about our security measures, it's not unusual for us to use third-party security at various stores across the country," Marlowe said. She added that in a small number of their parking lots, the company is testing the use of trained K-9 security teams to increase the safety of customers and employees.

At a grassy knoll steps from the New Rochelle store, the day laborers who have caused so much handwringing in recent media accounts gather with an eye to finding work for the day. If not for the less than scenic location, they might easily be mistaken for the picnickers at nearby Glen Island Park.

The workers assembled aren't keen to talk to a reporter and are even less happy to pose for photographs.

"This is nothing new," one laborer with a tattered red rucksack, who was adamant about not giving his name, explained. "Sometimes, nobody cares. Sometimes, they tell us to move on — you can't stand here. Sometimes, it's the police. Sometimes, it's management. If you're respectful, it's okay. Everybody knows we're just trying to survive out here. No real problem. I don't think you writing about it or putting it on the radio will do anyone any good. That is all I have to say."

The day laborers who gather near the entrance to the Home Depot in New Rochelle are a source of controversy in many quarters, but there is nothing to indicate they are a source of danger, at least on this day. On this particular late April morning, neither those looking for work for the day, nor the guards and K9 that seem more at home in a film about POW camps, seemed to dissuade those of us stopping in for lightbulbs or houseplants.