Why were the police unable to catch Jack the Ripper?

It was not through a lack of effort that the police failed to catch Jack the Ripper. They tried every method available to them, questioning all potential suspects and performing extensive door to door enquiries. Most murders are carried out by someone known to the victim, and here the police were at a disadvantage. They could not ascertain who the victim had seen recently or met on what would turn out to be their last night. Twice a reward was suggested and turned down. Finally, one was offered for information leading to the capture and successful prosecution of Catherine Eddowes' killer. They received 1400 tip-offs as a result of this, each one of which had to be followed up. In a poverty stricken area such as Whitechapel, people would try anything for money. From this the police ended up with several "red herrings", particularly in descriptions of the killer. He was described variously as being "dark complexioned", "educated", "foreign-looking". Another person claimed that he had "a thick carroty moustache". The Star claimed that he had a "small black moustache". At the time, many people disliked Jews. Newspapers such as The Star claimed that Jack the Ripper was a Jewish slipper maker. The police were well aware of these racial tensions and cleaned away the graffiti above the body of Catherine Eddowes, which read "The Juwes are the men that will not be blamed for nothing". They realised that this, whether related to the case or not, would have sparked a mass public uprising, and part of their job was to remain order on the streets. However, this move may have obliterated a vital clue. Whilst t may have been nothing more than unrelated anti-Semitic graffiti, if it was a real clue then it would doubtlessly have been in the killer's handwriting. The police also used identity parades when questioning witnesses, and put up posters around the area. They were also occupied with a bombing campaign by the IRA. The murders were not the only major event in London at the time - John George Littlechild, a detective connected with the case, survived the bombing of Scotland Yard only because he left the go to the opera 40 minutes earlier. The police were also under huge pressure form the international press - the New York Times called them "the stupidest in the world". Adding to this, most of the murders were in the Metropolitan Police area, but one fell under the jurisdiction of the City of London police force. The two forces did not co-operate effectively, so this was a hindrance rather than the help it might be in a modern day investigation. Part of the police role was to keep the streets orderly, which involved moving the body and cleaning up blood as soon as possible. This would never be done at a murder scene nowadays, as vital evidence would be lost. The police increased their presence on the streets form 27 to 89, and again up again to 143. The officers were never more than 15 minutes from each other. The police, in their desperation, tried all methods known to them. They developed sneakers so that the murder would not hear them clattering over the cobbles towards him. They even resorted to several particularly outlandish methods. Some [male] policemen dressed up as prostitutes in the hope of attracting the killer. They were beaten up on several occasions but otherwise the tactic proved fruitless. The other bizarre method employed by the police was that they examined victims' eyeballs in the hope of finding an image of the killer frozen onto them, their last sight.

However, there are many methods which we know take for granted that were not available to police then. Even fingerprinting had not yet come in - the first conviction with it was in 1902. DNA testing was not even a concept. Even simple ABO blood grouping was not discovered until 1900. Cameras were only just creeping into existence, and only one scene photograph was taken, after the murder of Mary Kelly. Victims were photographed on the autopsy table rather than in situ. Psychological profiling of the killer was not available, so the police very much had to rely on unreliable descriptions. The CID was very much in its infancy and had only been around for a decade t the time of the killings.

In conclusion, the police utilised all available resources and techniques in the hunt for Jack the Ripper. However, due to other events in London, poor communication and lack of what are now considered everyday techniques, they had relatively little chance of catching the killer.

Claire Watkins 13th June 07