Mr Hoyle said while Detective Senior Sergeant Dave De Lange will head a combined Hawke's Bay CIB section, the Napier CIB staff would remain in the Napier station and Hastings CIB staff at their station.
He said some changes had already occurred through the merging of some specialist groups.
The Organised Crime Squad will be based in Napier and the Child Protection Team will shortly move into new premises in Hastings.
Most of the district Road Policing groups are now housed together in the old Hastings courthouse, which was bought by police last year. They include Highway Patrol and the Serious Crash Unit.
Moves to combine the two policing areas into one had been under discussion for some time - with the first signs emerging last September as details of "Operation Bold" began to be released. It focused on centralising administrative roles which saw the Taradale and Havelock North community police stations lose their reception staff.
Locals raised concerns over limited access to police, as front-line staff were often out of the stations.
There had also been talk of centralising some sections of police within the two districts, although Mr Hoyle was again quick to emphasise there would be no downgrading of policing. Today's announcement means the roles held by Napier Area Commander Inspector Kevin Kalff and acting Hastings Area Commander Inspector Chris Wallace will disappear, with the new position of Hawke's Bay Area Commander set to be advertised.
Other senior administrative roles, which effectively duplicated, would be changed to "operational" roles, meaning those staff would take on more front-line duties.
"The public will see little difference in the way we police the district," Mr Hoyle said.
"Staff will respond to incidents as they do now - the main changes will be within police and to supervisory roles."
Many services and resources were duplicated in locations within 20km of each other.
"Many of our burglars and other criminals operate in both cities. It makes sense for us to work in a more streamlined and cost-effective manner.
"I am confident we will maintain a high standard of service to the public and even improve it with the new changes."
