One, 75-year-old Phil Schmidt, started work as a constable at the old Napier station when it opened in 1963.
"A lot of good memories in the old one," he said, adding that in the early days there were barracks upstairs and he lived there for a time.
"Did my own cooking."
He described the look of the new station as "impressive".
But he had some doubts about the size of it.
"It's more a base really - and there's not even a holding cell which I thought was a bit stupid to be honest."
The official line however was all positive.
Minister Collins said the station would be a valuable asset to Napier and represented the Government's commitment to ensuring police had what they needed.
"The men and women who police our communities and the staff who support them deserve to have a working environment that is safe and comfortable,"
she said.
She said the old 53-year-old station was becoming unsuitable for modern-day policing.
"We don't work the way we used to - in little cubby holes - this new design works and works very well."
Touching on recent events in her area of employment, she said policing was the same as politics.
"You never know what is going to happen next - you have to be prepared."
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."
He said it reflected that police were very much part of the community "and that partnership must work to keep everyone 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.
Several officers spoken to also described the new station as simply being too small for what they believed was required for the city.
Mr Nash said while police did a great job they lacked resources, and said it was hard to accept that Napier was the only centre with more than 20,000 residents which had a police station without holding cells.
Ms Kura said a lot of emphasis for the new station had gone into improving the options around working with victims and witnesses "alongside an inclusive work space to fit modern policing practices".
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.
Staff would begin the transition into the new station on Monday and the public counters would continue to open between 8am and 6pm on weekdays and 8am to 4pm on weekends.
