Abstract This article analyses the transformation of the Harm Reduction Compass for sex work policing in England and Wales. The original academic-police model (Compass 1) was presented as a significant breakthrough in the policing of sex work, introducing a decision matrix for assessing vulnerability alongside an autonomy-harm axis designed to guide frontline decision-making. Following evaluation, the National Police Chiefs’ Council removed both elements and reformulated the model (Compass 2) around established police practice, emphasizing enforcement, while partner agencies assumed responsibility for vulnerability and welfare. Rather than interpreting this shift as implementation failure or cultural resistance, the article argues, following Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory, that it reflects the organizational logic of policing. Elements that could not be incorporated into routine police decision-making were filtered out or reshaped, while others were retained in forms consistent with existing priorities. The case demonstrates the limits of progressive reform within policing, showing how reform pressure is not simply resisted but reworked in ways that preserve established practices and institutional boundaries.
Graham Ellison (Fri,) studied this question.