Premier Mike Baird will push to defer the battle over who will succeed Andrew Scipione as NSW police commissioner by proposing to cabinet that his contract be extended for up to two years.
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Mr Scipione's deputies, Nick Kaldas and Catherine Burn, have been jockeying for position to succeed him upon his anticipated retirement in September.
But the succession plan was complicated after evidence at an parliamentary inquiry into a police bugging scandal last year which saw decades-old grievances between Mr Kaldas and Ms Burn aired in public.
The scandal focused on an operation codenamed Mascot, which ran between 1999 and 2001, which used a corrupt former policeman, codenamed M5, to target allegedly corrupt police with a listening device.
Ms Burn was team leader of Mascot, which bugged Mr Kaldas more than a decade ago.
During the inquiry, Mr Kaldas accused Ms Burn of raising his name with an informant later used to bug him, while Ms Burn detailed serious corruption allegations against Mr Kaldas that had led him to be targeted. Ms Burn told the inquiry she no longer suspects Mr Kaldas of knowing about or being involved in corruption.
In response, Fairfax Media understands Mr Baird is preparing to take a proposal to cabinet for Mr Scipione's contract to be extended for two years.
The move is believed to be aimed a securing a smooth transition to appoint the next commissioner when Mr Scipione eventually retires.
The decision to extend Mr Scipione's contract comes less than two weeks after new Police Minister Troy Grant said the bugging scandal would play no part in selecting the next commissioner.
Mr Grant said the bugging scandal was a "burning personal issue" that hurt people on but not on a professional level.
He did however say that a search for a replacement had not yet begun.
A senior police source, who said they supported Mr Kaldas as the next commissioner, questioned the timing of the contract extension.
The source said it came following a recent "leak" from the NSW Ombudsman that he was considering referring Mr Kaldas to the Director of Public Prosecutions to face charges for allegedly misleading the ombudsman's office about the source of documents leaked to him in 2012.
The decision also opens up the possibility that a current assistant commissioner could be groomed for the top job. The leading candidates include Jeff Loy, Mark Murdoch and Alan Clarke.
Acting president of the NSW Police Association Pat Gooley said the force was "lucky to have a strong talent pool of capable leaders to select from".
"We appreciate the government ensuring a smooth transition of leadership and look forward to consolidating the outstanding work of our members in improving community safety."
A spokesman for Mr Scipione said he had no comment at this time.
