One a day when Vancouver police said chronic offenders should face stiffer penalties, a man with 128 convictions to his name was going about his business in the city's Downtown East Side.

But when a CTV reporter asked him about his criminal record, Vincent Barton just shrugged it off.

"Yes I do, so what?" said, Barton, who at the age of 39, is confined to a wheelchair and living with AIDs.

Police say Barton is one of  27 so called super chronic offenders, who are roaming the streets in Vancouver.

Driven by the need for crack cocaine and meth -- they break into cars -- shoplift -- stealing anything they can.

Their crimes are not considered dangerous,  more of a nuisance. But the impact on the public, police say,  is more significant than violent offenders, so severe that police have released the names of so-called "super chronic" offenders, people with mor then 76 convictions to their name.

The list is being made public to support the case for a 30-strikes and you are out policy, which would result in significant jail time for chronic offenders who currently receive minimal jail terms.

The list is being made public to support the case for a 30-strikes and you are out policy, which would result in significant jail time for chronic offenders who currently receive minimal jail terms.

The push for tougher penalties follows a police report which looked at criminal records and sentences handed to anyone with 12 or more convictions.

In all, the study monitored nearly 400 chronic offenders. Of that amount, 27 "super chronic offenders" were convicted at least 76 times.

"In Vancouver the situation has reached ludicrous proportions," said Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu, during a news conference on Wednesday. "I repeat, ludicrous proportions. The average jail sentences are going down, not up."

Vancouver police found that 87 per cent of all chronic offenders were sentenced to less than six months in jail and only 3 per cent were given sentences longer than one year.

As well, the report found sentences for chronic offenders rarely exceed a few months, and in some cases, the duration of the sentence decreases after the 30th charge.

A 30-strike policy would impact at least 200 chronic offenders, according to the report.

On Wednesday, Chu did not blame any one part of the judicial system, but called for a stronger police force and better collaboration between the police, the judiciary and government.

But B.C.'s top provincial judge Hugh Stansfield says throwing people in jail isn't necessarily always the answer.

Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson met with Chu last fall and agreed to work on the issue, a spokeswoman for the ministry told The Canadian Press.

"The problem of chronic offenders is an issue that has been the subject of studies and several discussions at the federal/provincial/territorial ministers of justice meetings," said Genevieve Breton.

She said the federal government will be working with provinces on a "national strategy" for the problem.

"These people need to go to jail to keep the public safe,'' said Vancouver Police Department spokesman Const. Tim Fanning.

 

But as debate continues Barton has given every indication that his career isn't over, even though he is confined to a wheelchair bartons career isnt over.

On Thursday a CTV reporter watched him trying to sell a bottle of perfume which was still in its box.

He is currently facing four counts of theft. If convicted, when he returns to court next month,  he will be up to 132.

 

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Lisa Rossington and files from The Canadian Press