What Home Depot, goPuff, and a Walgreens Finance Chief Said About Active-Assailant and Civil-Unrest Planning
A retail crisis plan works when it names an owner for each decision, trains associates on response options rather than a rigid sequence, and sets up police contact and guard staffing before an incident. In LP Magazine’s crisis tabletop, Home Depot’s Jeff Partin stressed associate training and meeting responders before an incident, and goPuff’s Scott Sanford put employee safety first in civil unrest. The handoff between the store and responders depends on work done before an incident, so that handoff should be written down and tested.
Should associates learn run, hide, fight as a sequence or as options?
As options. Associates should learn run, hide, and fight as three choices, each tied to a condition: run when an exit is clear, hide when it is not, fight only as a last resort. The ISC’s 2021 guide describes them as a list of response options, not a sequential process (CISA), and a person in a stockroom cannot always follow a numbered card.
Jeff Partin, The Home Depot, described the associate-level instruction in plain terms in the episode (LP Magazine):
“We spend a great deal of energy in training our associates… It’s pretty simple. You run, hide, or fight.”
Jeff Partin, The Home Depot, on LP Magazine Podcast Ep. 61: An Exercise in Crisis Response
The simplicity is the point. CISA’s Active Shooter Preparedness Action Guide tells people to “run” to the nearest exits, using cover and concealment while moving away from the threat, and to “hide” in a secure area where access or entryways can be locked when they cannot safely evacuate (CISA). It reserves “fight” for a last resort, to incapacitate the shooter (CISA).
Our view is that the associate training should follow that wording. A numbered card looks easier to remember, but it implies an order the situation may not allow. Practice the choice in a huddle with one scenario per session.
The threat assessment team sits above the associate
In our view, associate training is the bottom layer of a larger structure. The associate learns the options. A company-level function decides what the store is prepared for. CISA’s guide tells organizations to “Implement a Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management program in an effort to prevent incidents of targeted violence” (CISA).
The U.S. Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center reports that in many of the mass attack cases it studied, the attackers had a known affiliation with the site of the attack (Secret Service). That finding is why we would not treat the threat team as a corporate formality. A store manager who has seen a concerning remark or a former employee’s visit should know who to call, and that call should reach a team that can act. The associate’s job is to observe and report, not to assess.
Police contact has to exist before the call
The most concrete point in the active-assailant segment was about timing. Partin described what he asks of local responders:
“On a day when the sky is blue and nothing is wrong, come to our facility. Let’s walk through. Let us understand what you do as response elements so that we can appropriately build internal response efforts that coordinate with what’s actually gonna take place.”
Jeff Partin, The Home Depot, on LP Magazine Podcast Ep. 61: An Exercise in Crisis Response
The ISC’s 2021 guide says the same thing in its own language. Security organizations and Facility Security Committees should coordinate with local law enforcement “to maximize response effectiveness and to minimize confusion and delay,” and building documents should be made available to responding law enforcement “preferably prior to an incident” (CISA). The ISC policy is written for facilities occupied by federal employees (CISA), so treat it as a benchmark for retail, not a mandate.
Here is a checklist a store operator can run this quarter:
- Name one manager who owns the police relationship and the floor plan file.
- Send current floor plans, exits, and camera locations to the local department.
- Schedule a walk-through with responders during a normal business day.
- Record who on each shift can be reached by the department at night.
The limit is real. A relationship with local police does not replace the store’s own decisions. The plan has to assume the store is on its own for the first minutes.
Civil unrest starts with employee safety and a closure decision
The civil-unrest segment focused on who gets protected first. Scott Sanford, goPuff, put it directly in the episode:
“We wanna focus on employee safety… We’ve already done our preparatory work. That is contacting local guard agencies and making sure that we have guards available.”
Scott Sanford, goPuff, on LP Magazine Podcast Ep. 61: An Exercise in Crisis Response
Sanford’s point is that the guard arrangement is made before the crowd forms. We agree, and we would add a condition. Guards should be contracted in advance and switched on by defined triggers, such as a closure order, a reported gathering within a set distance, or a district manager’s call. Keeping them on as a standing cost is hard to justify. In January 2023, Walgreens’ finance chief James Kehoe said of the company’s added security staffing, “Probably we put in too much, and we might step back a little bit from that” (CNN). We read that as a warning about spending that outlasts its reason, not as a case against guards.
Write the closure rule down before anyone needs it. Name who can order a close or boarding decision, what conditions trigger it, and how associates are told. A manager who has to debate authority during an event loses minutes that the plan was meant to save.
What the panel does not settle
The recording tells you what two practitioners said in a scenario exercise. It does not tell you what your store should do in your city, and it does not show how any retailer’s plan performed in a real event. The panel recording dates from 2021, so the speakers’ titles describe their roles at the time of the episode.
What New York’s S.740 adds for some retailers
New York adds a legal floor for some retailers. S.740 lists “active shooter drills” among the items the state’s model retail workplace violence training must include, and requires each employer to communicate a site-specific list of emergency exits and meeting places (NY Assembly). The same amendment replaces the old 911 panic button with a silent response button that reaches a security officer, manager, or supervisor, for employers of 500 or more retail employees statewide, and that requirement takes effect January 1, 2027 (NY Assembly). The bill text says who the button reaches; it does not say whether the button also calls 911 or police, so confirm that with counsel. This is not legal advice.
Our judgment for multi-state retailers is to build one crisis-training program to New York’s floor, including drills and site-specific exits, and apply it in every state. For a related look at New York’s retail requirements, see what the New York Retail Worker Safety Act requires and by when. Compliance is still state by state, so check your own counsel’s reading before you rely on this.
What to do this week
- Rewrite the associate card as run, hide, and fight options with the conditions for each.
- Write the closure and guard-activation triggers, with the person who can order each one.
- Review the observe-and-report approach and confirm associates know to observe and report concerning behavior to the threat team, not to assess or confront it.
Frequently asked questions
Who should own the police relationship in a retail crisis plan?
Assign one named manager or security lead to own it. That person meets the local department before an incident, shares the floor plan and exit layout, and keeps the contact current when staff change. Without a named owner, the relationship lapses and responders arrive without the layout they need.
Does a retail active-shooter plan need a fixed sequence of steps for associates?
No. The ISC's 2021 guide lists run, hide, and fight as choices an associate makes based on the situation, with no set order. A rigid numbered sequence can mislead someone who cannot safely run. Teach the three options with clear conditions for each, and practice choosing among them.
What is the first decision in a civil-unrest closure plan?
Employee safety comes first. Decide in advance who has authority to close or board a store, what conditions trigger that decision, and how staff are told. Writing those triggers down before a crowd forms lets a manager act in minutes instead of debating during the event.