The state's top cop wants to cut the number of police officers on the beat as part of a radical overhaul of Victoria Police.

Under the plan, police would move from local stations and crime would increasingly be tackled through specialist taskforces.

Chief Commissioner Ken Lay recently revealed explosive details of his new ''blue paper'' at a Rotary Club dinner in Wangaratta, warning that the number of front-line officers in the regional city could be halved over the next decade.

''Don't expect that in 10 years' time that you'll see 60 uniform people in Wangaratta - you won't,'' he said at the event on May 15.