In a week of damaging reports of "hidden cuts" to operational police, assistant commissioner for region four Bob Hastings said Monash had lost the equivalent of 3.32 full-time officers since 1999.

He said that during that time, Oakleigh station lost five full-time positions, but gained three for a net loss of two. At the same time, Victorian police numbers rose by about 1550, including 1150 operational members.

Assistant Commissioner Hastings said police allocation took into account demographics and crime rates, and he was confident that "resource allocation in Monash still effectively meets local policing needs".

He said Monash reported an 11.2 per cent decrease in overall crime in 2006-07, and a 12.8 per cent reduction in property offences.

Glen Waverley's Acting Senior Sergeant Ross Graham said numbers had been the same at Glen Waverley for 10 years.

"We're not desperately understaffed.

"Glen Waverley is in no way in danger from a lack of police resources.

"We have adequate numbers to deal with our needs, but like everyone, we'd like a little more."

He said police were generally limited to two divisional vans - one from Glen Waverley and one from Oakleigh - patrolling Monash 24/7, including weekend nights.

He said that sometimes the vans could be tied up, incidents had to be prioritised and there were situations in which "the public need to wait".

However, after the group bashing of a car's occupants in Kingsway last December, units arrived from Nunawading and Glen Waverley and "had it in hand very quickly".

"With more numbers, we can provide a better service to the public," Acting Senior Sergeant Graham said.

"If there's more staff, we could get an extra vehicle on the road and that's a situation where we can resolve incidents a lot quicker."

Inspector Graham Sprague of Monash police did not comment.