Major retailers spend millions hiring Winnipeg police officers on OT to stop shoplifters

One of Canada's largest retailers is spending more than $200,000 a month hiring Winnipeg police officers to protect its business, an increase police and experts say points to the growing crisis of retail theft in the city.

Data obtained by CBC through freedom of information laws show that over the past five years, Real Canadian Superstore, owned by Loblaw, has spent over $12 million on special duty police officers. 

These are officers working overtime to do tasks outside their regular job, with their wages paid by clients. The Winnipeg Police Service charges $128 an hour plus tax for the services of a police constable.

Small business owner Sarah Esperanza estimates she loses hundreds of dollars each week to theft from her West End shop, which specializes in Latin American food and goods, but she can't afford to hire police officers.

"What can we do?" said Esperanza, who has owned El Izalco Market for 24 years after moving from El Salvador to Canada.

"There is no end, but nobody [is] taking consideration. We as small businesses are the ones that are keeping up the economy, and who is helping us?" 

Customers walk into her store and brazenly steal things like a drink or cookies — items so small it doesn't make sense to file an insurance claim.

One time a customer pulled a knife on her.

"It's a challenge," she said.

"Sometimes you have to take it. You had to go through it."

CBC obtained the monthly list of clients that hire special duty police officers and how many hours the officers work for them each month. 

Using the posted hourly rate for a Winnipeg constable, CBC tallied how much hiring officers cost each client from January 2019 to mid-August this year.

The three biggest clients were Superstore, Walmart and the province of Manitoba.

The numbers paint a picture of the two major retailers' growing reliance on police officers, something the Retail Council of Canada said isn't sustainable.