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. 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. Of the first 50 reservists, 39 have been employed part-time with the remaining 11 returning full-time.