The first 50 former officers to be deployed — many who have decades of policing experience — will begin duty this week and next.
Victoria Police analysis shows 50 reservists will inject 1360 policing hours, or the equivalent of 170 shifts, back in the community each week.
They will perform a range of administrative duties, including answering phones, completing paperwork, signing statutory declarations, receiving exhibits into police custody and taking crime reports, which will free up serving police to conduct more proactive patrols and respond quicker to service calls.
The reservists have an average of 21 years’ prior policing experience, with 17 of the 50 having served between 30 and 45 years, including eight who have spent more than 40 years as police officers.
"The fact they've come out of retirement to step up for their communities and colleagues says so much about their drive to make Victoria safer,“ Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said.
"Our police do an incredible job and reservists will put them where they're needed most, not trapped behind a desk."
Among the first 50 reservists are a retired sergeant who served for 42 years, a former senior sergeant in charge of the same station for 25 years and a retired superintendent who served for 35 years and is carrying on the legacy of her late policing husband.
A married couple with a combined 72 years of Victoria Police service will return to the station where they met four decades earlier to work together again.
Shepparton is one of eight regional stations to receive the new staffing assistance, along with stations in Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Mildura, Sale, Wangaratta and Wodonga.
Locations were selected based on areas with the busiest stations and where reservists live.
Victoria Police received funding for 200 full-time reservist positions, however actual numbers will be more, as many will work part-time, meaning it will take several people to fill each position available.
Of the first 50 reservists, 39 have been employed part-time with the remaining 11 returning full-time.
More than 500 applications have so far been received, with squads of about 25 reservists completing a week of bespoke training at the Victoria Police Academy every few weeks, which include refresher classes in a variety of disciplines identified as critical to the newly-created support officer role.
Rolling deployments are scheduled until the middle of December.
Further stations getting reservists will be announced as they are deployed.
Further details on the program are available at police.vic.gov.au/reservist
