Police have greater powers to search individuals using portable metal detectors after laws passed in June came into effect on Monday 9 December.

The new 'wanding' laws allow senior police to declare zones where officers can stop and scan people without a warrant at places including shopping precincts, public transport stations and certain sports venues.

NSW premier Chris Minns said the laws will be an inconvenience, but will keep the public safe.

"We can’t take chances when it comes to public safety," he said.

“I have no doubt that these reforms will save lives, because people will think twice about carrying a knife with them.”

Under the new rules, an officer at the rank of Assistant Commissioner or above can declare areas where one of the following have occurred in the last 12 months:

• At least one offence committed by a person armed with knife or weapon.
• At least one serious indictable offence involving violence.
• More than one offence of knife possession or prohibited weapon possession.

Police will be able to declare zones for up to 12 hours, with an option to extend the timeframe if criteria are met.  

READ: 13-year-old threatens peers with knife at school in Bourke

Bourke mayor Lachlan Ford welcomed the powers, although he said they may be more limited in the town than in metropolitan areas.

"There's not big shopping centres or places of public transport out here," Cr Ford said.

"At the end of the day, any tools that the police have got to perform their duties better would be a good step forward."

In September, a "small number" of wands were available to police for field operations at the local level, according to answers to questions from an August budget estimates hearing.

The answers said individual police officers were not currently allocated wands.

The Opposition also welcomed the laws, although Shadow Minister for Police Paul Toole said he wants to see a faster rollout of metal detector wands to officers.

“The Minns Labor Government needs to provide some clarity around how things will work in terms of getting this equipment to rural and remote areas and whether the mid to late 2025 date has been improved, because the current timeline is simply too long to wait," Mr Toole said.