"The former building was entering its sixth decade of service and was slowly becoming unsuitable for a modern-day police team.
"This new station provides them with an up-to-date station that is fit for purpose and caters for the needs of both the public and our 21st century policing service."
Police Commissioner Bush said the new station provided a working environment that was safe, secure, open and flexible.
"The design also reflects the modern, collaborative approach to policing and the focus on community engagement, providing space where the people of Napier can come and meet with our staff and work with us in keeping the community safe."
Hawke's Bay Area Commander Inspector Tania Kura said she was excited about the new facilities for both staff and the public.
"A great deal of emphasis has gone into improving the options around working with victims and witnesses alongside an inclusive work space to fit modern policing practices."
She was quick to overturn any notion of the new station being a "satellite" one and said it would perform all the requirements of police, as well as housing up to 62 staff.
It did not however have the capacity to hold people taken into custody and they would continue to be taken to Hastings and processed there - something which had not gone down well with some front-line staff.
One officer, who did not want to be named, described the new station as geared more to administration than front-line policing, and said the amount of time it took for duty staff to get a detained person to Hastings, and often back again later, impacted the numbers on duty in Napier.
However, Ms Kura said the centralised custody approach was not unique to Hawke's Bay and has been operating in other centres.
Some officers spoken to also described the new station as simply being too small for what they believed was required for the city.
"A great deal of emphasis has gone into improving the options around working with victims and witnesses alongside an inclusive work space to fit modern policing practices," Ms Kura said.
The existing old station will remain open and will house some staff until the second stage of the region's policing revamp takes place in the form of the new $19 million Eastern District and Hawke's Bay Police headquarters in Hastings.
Work is already under way on that although a definitive finish and occupy date had not been set at this stage, Ms Kura said.
When the new Hastings-based HQ is completed the old Napier station, which was opened in 1963 will be closed and then demolished - to create parking.
When that had been finished the memorial garden for officers slain in the line of duty would be reinstated.
