Albury and Deniliquin have been flagged among several local area commands to undertake the process, which will go live by the end of the month.

The move would mean no more public access to police scanners and is being done in a bid to improve the safety of police officers.

Southern region Commander Assistant Commissioner Gary Worboys said it was being implemented for the security of police.

“This process means criminals will no longer have access to police radio transmissions and therefore they cannot follow emergency responses, which will help police solve and prevent crime,” he said.

“Policing is often a highly unpredictable and potentially dangerous job and this strategy means we’re eliminating a significant risk to officer safety.

“We welcome this process and we’ll continue to develop and implement strategies that make frontline policing as safe and secure as possible.”

Digital police radios in metropolitan Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong successfully underwent the process seven years ago.

At the time, several news outlets reported issues with delayed information and a lack of information for crime reporters.

The system has gradually been rolled out on other parts of the state over the past two years.

Media organisations will be given access to a separate, internet-based system for news gathering purposes.

Assistant Commissioner Worboys said this would be different from scanners, which would no longer be of use in the newsroom.

“We are aware of how this will affect media outlets and we will continue to assist them in the important role they play through communicating key information to the public that assists us in targeting crime,” he said.

“To facilitate this, we’ve developed and implemented the Police External Agencies Transfer System, an internet feed that has been used for a number of years to provide information on police activity, in place of radio transmissions.

“In addition, we will work with affected media organisations to ensure the new measures allow opportunities to attend operations of public significance.” 

The encryption process will also be rolled out in Shoalhaven, Monaro, far South Coast and Griffith.