Victoria Police will contact more than 40,000 people who have previously applied to be police but missed out or lost interest, in a bid to boost recruitment numbers.

The force needs to recruit 502 police officers and 50 PSOs urgently.

But Chief Commissioner Shane Patton insists Victoria Police “won’t be dropping our standards at all”.

Press PLAY below to hear why police urgently need recruits

“It’s not about dropping standards, it’s about saying ‘Hey, you thought you wanted to join the best job in the world, well that opportunity is still there’,” he told Neil Mitchell.

“We need thousands to apply.”