Co-operation or Unification: Is the future of British police multi-agency working simply to become one agency?

In 2014 Professor Tim Hope stated that he would “give up the police service”, proposing that the “police service should merge thoroughly with health, ambulance and fire services to become a harm-response service”. This article examines the practicalities of such a proposal, considering different aspects within policing that require multi-agency co-operation and whether that could be replaced by unification. It concludes that in all instances, bar one notable exception in the form of mental health response, the police necessarily stand apart from other agencies for good reason and that unification would be counterproductive to Hope’s aims.