Victorian lives are at risk because police don't have enough officers and are forced to juggle high priority jobs, their union says.
A Police Association survey of almost half the state's frontline sergeants said they regularly did not have the frontline numbers to get to jobs.
A quarter said they are holding Priority 1 jobs (carjackings, aggravated burglaries, assaults) for more than an hour due to understaffing.
In one case, thieves who stole a car from a house in Berwick had enough time to go back and steal another car before police arrived 62 minutes later.
"That's just not acceptable," Police Association secretary Ron Iddles told reporters on Wednesday.
"We're are at a crisis point.
"I think they're actually playing Russian roulette with people's lives."
Victoria Police deputy commissioner Andrew Crisp admits officers are stretched in some areas.
"It's not easy out there, they're juggling a lot of balls, but in my opinion ... they're doing a very good job of effectively managing the resources they have and meet the demand they're expected to meet," Mr Crisp said.
The Police Association is calling for 3300 additional police to be trained and dispatched over the next six years.
Police Minister Lisa Neville said 406 new police officers will graduate by June next year, ahead of the 2018 schedule.
The police association wants those 406 fast-tracked to help now.
Ms Neville said the police academy was at "absolute capacity", with 1000 being trained over the next 12 months.
This includes PSOs and custody officers, which she says help in freeing up jobs for frontline police.
Victoria Police says new officers will most likely go to growth areas like Caroline Springs, Casey, Melton, Cardinia and Whittlesea.
"The model is still yet to be settled where those numbers go," Mr Crisp said.
"But I guess it would be no surprise that we will see positions go out to those particular areas."
With a rise in night-time offending, Mr Crisp also said police will consider looking at changing shift times to help deal with demand in the evening.
