The Home Depot in Oakland is having problems with homelessness and crime, and it’s gotten so bad that the hardware chain may shut the store unless the city can curb the thefts and clean up the tent and RV camps that dot the area, City Councilman Noel Gallo said.

“That’s the message we got at a meeting with Home Depot representatives,” said Gallo, whose district includes the big box hardware store at 4000 Alameda Ave.

It’s so bad that Home Depot is paying for two Oakland Police Department squad cars, manned by off-duty officers at $100 an hour each, to be on-site — one patrols the parking lot, while the other parks at the store’s entrance in an attempt to curb theft from the store.

“Out of all our nearly 2,000 stores across the country, this store suffers from some of the most frequent occurrences of malicious theft, among other incidents,” Home Depot spokeswoman Margaret Smith said.

The police presence is in addition to Home Depot’s private security force, which works inside the store. The company has also installed surveillance cameras on light poles outside the store to keep an eye on thefts from the rear storage area, which has been robbed regularly.

Meanwhile, the streets, sidewalks and empty lots surrounding the small shopping center are filled with the tents, impromptu structures, RVs and cars that together make up a homeless camp.

Gallo said the hardware company has been raising concerns about crime and camps in the area for months.

“It’s out of control — the tents, the garbage, and the thefts in the store and in the parking lot,” Gallo said. “People are getting their cars broken into in the parking lot.”

Justin Berton, Mayor Libby Schaaf’s spokesman, said she has met with Home Depot representatives and that “they reiterated they were not leaving Oakland, despite Councilman Gallo’s insistence that they plan to.”

Smith also said Home Depot hasn’t threatened to leave Oakland. However, she declined to say what it might do if the situation fails to improve.

“We’re not going to speculate, but we remain hopeful the situation will be addressed and resolved,” Smith said.

The East Oakland store opened in 2004, employs more than 200 workers and paid $513,858.82 in property taxes last year.

Concerns about safety in the surrounding neighborhood prompted a March meeting at the store between Home Depot representatives, Gallo and Oakland police.

Following that meeting, Home Depot Regional Vice President Steven Knott wrote to Gallo reiterating the company’s “serious concerns and challenges” at the Oakland store.

“The growing homeless encampments around this store have made it extremely difficult for both our customers and associates to feel safe,” Knott said in the letter, adding that “the climate around the store has had an enormous negative impact on the associates’ safety and morale.”

“This environment also negatively impacts our customers’ confidence to shop,” he said.

Knott ended his letter with a promise to cooperate with the city and with a request that Oakland officials “immediately remove and relocate” the encampments to another “viable location.”

At the second meeting, on May 14, this one at City Hall with Gallo and members of Schaaf’s staff, Home Depot and the city agreed to a series of steps to improve the situation, including locating a “cabin community” nearby to house the homeless and closing the street behind the store.

Two weeks later, Home Depot Government Relations Director Francisco J. Uribe sent Gallo an email reiterating concerns about an RV dweller on nearby 37th Avenue who had “brandished a weapon” in front of a pair of Home Depot workers.

“The danger that he continues to pose requires the urgent need to restrict access to 37th Avenue,” Uribe said, referring to the partially blocked-off street behind the store. Uribe also asked for help finding a home for a disabled homeless man who had set up camp on Home Depot property.

Police have increased patrols in the area, but the encampments remain.

“The city keeps telling me they don’t have another location to move people,” Gallo said. “In fact, it’s gotten worse, not only for Home Depot but for other businesses in the area. We could lose a lot of jobs and taxes.”

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Phillip Matier appears Sundays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX-TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call 415-777-8815, or email pmatier@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @philmatier