Police Association secretary Ron Iddles said a recent audit by the union found that, while 1300 new officers had been recruited since 2010, only 456 were working on the front line.

He said the system was overstretched, with police officers given inadequate time to do their paperwork. Officers on sick leave were sometimes unable to be replaced, which meant certain units were not put on the road.

''There needs to be a commitment from government over the next three years to increase numbers again by 1700,'' Senior Sergeant Iddles told Fairfax Radio on Tuesday.

He said Victoria had the second lowest ratio per head of population of police in Australia and some of the state's growth corridors had shed police in the past three years.

''We are struggling, we're not coping.''

The comments coincided with the release of figures obtained by state Labor under freedom of information laws, which showed a decrease in frontline officers at a number of stations since the Coalition came to power in 2010.

Shadow police spokesman Wade Noonan said only six of the state's 56 police service areas had more police now than they did in 2010.

The data shows more than 20 areas – including Benalla, Surf Coast, Knox, Yarra Ranges, Glen Eira, Port Phillip and Stonnington – have experienced more than a 20 per cent cut to their frontline staff.

''Most Victorians would be shocked to learn that while crime increases across the state, Denis Napthine has reduced the number of police on the beat in their local area,'' he said.

But Victoria Police spokeswoman Sergeant Jo Stafford said the organisation had more than 1500 extra operational police than it did in 2010 and it ''was simply not accurate to suggest there is a crisis within the organisation''.

She said looking at staff numbers at stations created a skewed picture of how many police were working in an area because many officers were not physically attached to stations.

''They are working in specialist squads, tackling family violence, organised crime and offending on our roads. These police are not always based at local police stations, but are still working in local communities, helping to keep Victorians safe."

Police Minister Kim Wells hit back at the Opposition, saying the government was on track to meet its election promise of delivering an extra 1700 frontline police officer by November at a cost of $602 million.

Mr Wells said this year's state budget was ''the largest crime fighting budget in history''.

''As Labor should know, the Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police is independently responsible for making decisions as to where additional officers are located.''

with AAP