Robert*, who is a pensioner, suspected his car keys were stolen after he dropped them on the front lawn of his Sebastopol home on May 22.

He said someone then nicked them to steal his white 2000 Mitsubishi sedan, which was used later to ram a police divvy-van twice along Golden Point’s Larter Street in the early hours of May 24.

"I'm bloody devastated," Robert said.

"I need to go to Bacchus Marsh to babysit my grandchildren weekly as my daughter works nights sometimes.

"The worst part is I can't afford another car.”

The shocking incident provoked the Police Association of Victoria to call for a new offence for criminals who ram police cars and endanger the lives of officers.

Figures revealed 103 police cars were rammed in 2015-26, up from just 30 n 2013-2014.

Robert emphathised with Ballarat police but was worried about what he would do without a car. "It's out of police's hands," he said. 

"Because when these people go to court they get a slap on the wrist because they're on ice."

Police Association secretary Wayne Gatt, who used to work in Trentham, said a tougher new offence should be created for those who purposely ram police.

“It’s extremely concerning that the rising trend of police vehicles being brazenly rammed by offenders appears to continue unabated,” he said.

“More needs to be done to stop this trend in its tracks.  

“Legislative amendment is needed now to send the strongest possible message to offenders that if you threaten or assault a police officer, or engage in behaviour like this then you are going to have plenty of time to reflect on it from a prison cell.  

“It’s just not enough to lament the situation, government and Victoria Police must work together to change this situation before one of our members is killed or seriously injured.”

It comes just two months after a woman allegedly rammed a police car in Gordon on March 13.

Deputy Commissioner Andrew Crisp had told Fairfax Media there seemed to be a change in behaviour by offenders.

"It seems to be that offenders have become more aware if they drive in an erratic way or in fact ram our vehicles, there's every chance we won't take up a pursuit in relation to that particular person,” he said.

"Even before the changes to the pursuit policy, good crooks, good offenders would know if they drove at excessive speed, drove on the wrong side of the road, naturally, we're not going to pursue in that circumstance."

Last year Victoria Police acquired an aeroplane and three new helicopters to help catch offenders who try to avoid being arrested.

Mr Crisp suspected criminals conversing with each other was a reason behind the spike in rammings.

"It's young people learning from young people about what they can do to try and get away from police," he said. "Some of these young offenders are really not concerned about the consequences."

*Name changed to protect privacy