In this paper, we draw on emerging theories of the production of ignorance in organisations. We conduct qualitative analysis of two forms of secondary data on policing in England and Wales: first, documents in the public domain from the Casey Review and the Angiolini Inquiry; second, qualitative data collected as part of ‘Operation Soteria’ a UK Home Office-funded programme designed to improve the investigation of rape and serious sexual offences. We highlight the adverse effects of avoidance of uncomfortable knowledge, organisational silence, and non-learning in policing. We argue that they are both important contributors to the crisis of legitimacy faced by UK policing, and barriers to effective change. Finally, we discuss both structural conditions that support the production and reproduction of ignorance and approaches to ‘undoing ignorance’.