Call for review of police bugging laws

Laws around the issuing of surveillance warrants must be reviewed and a new body set up to handle police complaints, an inquiry has found.

A parliamentary inquiry has called on the government to apologise to Deputy Police Commissioner Nick Kaldas over the police bugging scandal.

NSW Premier Mike Baird and Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione have been called on to apologise to Mr Kaldas, who was targeted in 80 surveillance warrants obtained with false or inappropriate evidence.

The final report of the inquiry into the scandal 15 years ago, released on Wednesday, found a "woefully inadequate" system in need of drastic overhauls to laws around police phone tapping and handling police complaints.

Deep rifts were unearthed at the highest levels of the force and the inquiry also called for an urgent, open investigation to determine who should be the state's next police commissioner.