Last week, Chief Commissioner Simon Overland met recruits at the Victoria Police Academy in Glen Waverley and announced a $1 million recruitment campaign to be launched in March.

He said the campaign would highlight the day-to-day realities and challenges faced by police as they respond to incidents and engage with the community.

Beaconsfield resident Frank Duffy, 47, will graduate from the academy on April 30 after joining the police force in November.

"It's something I've always wanted to do but when I first left school I joined the bank and sort of just got entrenched in that," he said.

Mr Duffy said he wanted to become a member of the police force after some good experiences with officers as a youngster.

"I also like the variety and the challenges that lie ahead.

"I was at the stage last year where I had an opportunity to do something I always wanted to do. I pursued it because life is just too short."

Eight weeks into his training, Mr Duffy has learned about the law, defensive tactics, communication and paper work.

He hopes to join the traffic management unit after he completes his probationary training.

"My family has been touched by the road toll. You just see a lot of idiots out on the road taking unnecessary risk."

Mr Duffy said recruits were well trained to face potentially risky situations on the job.

"I've got no doubt [confrontation] will happen but given our training and my life experience, I think it will help. It's all about communication and that's certainly stressed at the academy. If you can solve an issue by way of just talking to people, then that's the ideal scenario."

The push for new police officers comes as Victoria Police prepares to launch its operational response unit (ORU), a team of about 200 highly trained police who will focus on crime, road policing and public order-related offences in hot spots in the state.

Victoria Police initiated the recruitment drive after the State Government announced it would provide an additional 120 police officers to resource the ORU.