Hundreds of police have returned home after a lengthy stint manning NSW checkpoints.
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About 600 officers began leaving sites along the state border on Monday hours after the checkpoints were removed.
More than 14,000 police had worked on the operation which started in July.
Superintendent Paul Smith said traffic was flowing well and by mid-week, there should be no sign of the checkpoint infrastructure.
"It's terrific," he said on Monday.
"We've got a lot of cops to get home today and probably tomorrow.
"Once they're home I'll be very happy and we can wrap up the operation.
"Hopefully the border region can move into the holiday season and get back to some normality.
"I know we've been through quite a bit."
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Superintendent Smith admitted he had been "quite concerned" about the task facing police when the state closures were announced.
He said officers had run a successful operation, but it wasn't something he wanted to see again.
"We got it in place and it took some time," Superintendent Smith said.
"You would have seen the checkpoints develop over a period of time.
"I'm very happy that my police are off the checkpoints before we get into the middle of summer, that would have been very challenging.
"Of course we did most of this operation with ADF support.
"It was certainly challenging once we lost that ADF support.
"We thank them for their partnership."
Officers had held up messages of thanks for the public in the final hours of the checkpoints.
Superintendent Smith said some drivers had been stopped from going into NSW after trying to enter without a permit before 12.01am on Monday.
A large number of officers boarded Sydney-bound trains at Albury station and Superintendent Smith said the operation could lead to some applying for jobs in the region.
"A lot of them haven't been outside the metro area," he said.
"We're certainly hoping our recruiting might improve a bit."