Source “d” is an extract containing evidence from Elizabeth long. In my opinion this woman cannot have helped the police at all as she was not sure about any of the evidence she had given therefore was not a reliable witness, for example :(” I think he was wearing…….”) and so the police cannot be blamed for not capturing Jack the Ripper at this time. If Elizabeth had given a precise description for example height, build or race, she would have helped, but as she did not, the police could not have narrowed down the search. Source “e” the comic strip shows the police were not all skilled because the officer rubbed off what could have been vital evidence e.g. D.N.A tests and fingerprints and this may have helped to narrow down the search
There were many ways that the police tried to capture Jack for example, questioning eyewitnesses. People were often vague so this did not help. A local appeal was a good technique but people were too scared to help the police, as they were cryptic rivals. This could have been a step in the right direction made by the police, but had failed so it resulted in being a step back. They tried localising searches but forgot to widen searches too. They also tried to catch Jack in the act by using decoys; however, they had blood hounds that were not always correct. Vigilante groups physically attacked suspicious people this was also a setback. The metropolitan police force working with rather then competing against the normal police force was also useful. There were more street lights and police even put lives at risk by going undercover as prostitutes, however, this didn’t work but was a step forward. Most of these methods were not effective in helping the police at all.
“The police were not to blame for not capturing Jack the Ripper”
It can be claimed that this statement is true, on the grounds that had the police not been enemies with the public in the first place and tried to show a helping hand and be there for publicans, then maybe they would have got more co-operation for the Jack the Ripper case.
However, in argument against this statement, the police did try hard to capture Jack the Ripper. The fact that there were no witnesses made the investigation more difficult, the victims were prostitutes (people who avoided police) and that the killer had no link with the victims.
In my opinion the police were not to blame for not capturing this ‘demented being’ as many deaths were unreported in turn giving less evidence to the police. Also Jack had moved to another country and there were no international links that pin pointed him to a specific country.
In conclusion, the strongest argument is that the police were not to blame for not capturing Jack the ripper, as this case was very difficult with no forensics evidence of any sort and not enough co-operation from the citizens.
