Source B, also linked to the limitations of the police, is from www.casebook.org; an internet website created by ‘Ripperologists’ in order to help amateurs try and solve the mystery themselves. This source examines how two police forces that carried out investigations on the case and how they didn’t work well together:
“…two police forces carried out investigations… To what degree, if any, did their failure to co-operate have on solving the case is not known.”
We are shown that the police forces who did investigate the Whitechapel murders may not have combined forces to assist each other in order to catch the criminal, which should have been their main concern. We have to consider if their failure to co-operate might have affected to whether the murderer remained free.
As this source was created by amateurs it’s slightly unreliable. However, we know for a fact that two police forces did carry out investigations, so it is a very strong possibility that they failed to work together.
Another factor that contributed to the failure to capture the murderer was the inefficiency of the police.
Source D is part of an article taken from a local newspaper after the murders of Polly Nichols and Annie Chapman. This article discusses the inefficiency of the police:
“He warned that murder would ensue if matters were left as they were… but he never made any impression.”
We are told that an ‘informant’ gave advice to the police that they should strengthen the force right there and then, but the police ignored the advice.
The source is not very reliable as we do not know who wrote it or who the informant was; there is no date or name of the paper that it was published in.
Source E is a very reliable source which highlights the police force’s inefficiency, the aforementioned source is a police leaflet published after the murders of Elizabeth Stride and Kate Eddowes:
“Should you know of any person of whom suspicion is attached, you are earnestly requested to communicate…”
The police were requesting co-operation from the public to gain information and support. We can see that they were almost begging for assistance from the public.
The reliability is very strong as it is an official police leaflet.
The media that was running at the time of the Whitechapel murders had quite a significant role towards the investigation surrounding the murders.
Source J is the iconic “Dear Boss” letter that is one of the most well-known letters throughout history, the message is dated September 25th 1888 but was postmarked and received on September 27th 1888.
Scotland Yard did not receive it until September 29th 1888.
As the letter was sent directly to the Central News Agency it was treated as a hoax at first, but it wasn’t forwarded to the police until 2 days later. This may have delayed a major point in the investigation as the letter could possibly be real.
Probably the most unreliable source out of them all, Source J is most likely a hoax letter but there is a slim chance that it could be legitimate, but, we do not know the real sender.
Source K is a headline from The Star newspaper and was published on the 5th of September 1888:
“LEATHER APRON THE ONLY NAME LINKED WITH THE WHITECHAPEL MURDERS”
This headline or story was produced to give information to the public about the possible suspects. The media often caused a stir as their news was not always helpful, they gave away too much information which caused the public to panic and go around accusing innocent people such as butchers due to their profession being linked with the media’s accusations.
In a sense, Source K is reliable due to the fact that we know when it was published and by which newspaper. However, The Star was, and is, not a very accurate newspaper as it mainly exists to sell itself.
Source I displays the package and letter that Mr. George Lusk, president of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, received on October 16th 1888 which contained half a human kidney preserved in wine and a letter claiming it was taken from Kate Eddowes:
“I send you half the Kidne I took from one woman and prasarved it for you…” (Spelling mistakes as in letter)
Either a hoax or real, no one knows, but it’s possible that this could have been a legitimate letter. This source shows us how the public were not helping by sending many hoaxes claiming to be ‘Jack the Ripper’. The person who sent it did not send it straight to the police or the Central News Agency but to a member of the public, it is therefore slightly more likely that this was not a hoax.
Source N is a cartoon titled “The Nemesis of Neglect” which was published in Punch magazine on September 29th 1888:
The image shows a ghostly figure holding a knife with the words “Crime” across its head.
This source criticizes the police for neglecting East London at the time of the Whitechapel murders. The cartoon tells us that many people believed that crime was floating around at its will and nothing was being done to stop it, this shows us how easy it was for ‘Jack the Ripper’ to commit his acts of atrocity and continue to remain free.
As this cartoon appeared in a magazine that was well known for condemning the government and the police for not doing anything about the murders, we have to consider whether the image is biased or not, as many of the artists that drew such cartoons were very partial towards the law.
Source M is part of an article published in a local newspaper after the murders of Polly Nichols and Annie Chapman:
“The main thoroughfares of Whitechapel are connected by a network of narrow, dark and crooked lanes…”
Described in this source are the streets of Whitechapel and what it was like back there in 1888. We know that back in the Victorian era the streets of Whitechapel were overcrowded and 75% of crime that occurred was petty, so this source tells us that the area was suitable for this type of habitation as the streets were very crooked and appropriate to house crime in a concealed area.
This source was published in a local newspaper, which contributes to it’s unreliability as many of the local papers “sensationalised” the events that took place.
Having discussed the many factors that could have possibly contributed to the murderer known as ‘Jack the Ripper’ remaining free I have come to the conclusion that the police force at the time of the murders was very inefficient and unreliable. Even though there were actually 2 police forces carrying out investigations, the resources and knowledge that they possessed was not enough to combat this type of one-man crime wave. As forensic was not available, the only way to catch a criminal and prosecute them with sufficient evidence was to catch them in the act, which was frankly unacceptable as there was not nearly enough policemen to patrol every street every second of the day. Their understanding on the motives and psychology of criminals was very poor, and this heightened their inability to catch the murderer. Also, the media and public exacerbated, or ‘sensationalised’ the situation by sending many hoax letters and failed to fully co-operate with the police force. Due to the media’s perseverance to keep the public in a state of panic, in order to sell their papers, the investigation into the Whitechapel murders met many obstacles that were unnecessary and may have seriously damaged the chances of catching the murderer. Lastly, the geographical area of Whitechapel may have also contributed to the murderer remaining free. Through neglect it was obvious that something like this was bound to happen at one point, described as “a breeding ground for evil” such an occurrence was unavoidable as the area was greatly infested with crime.
To this day the murderer known as ‘Jack the Ripper’ has never been named with concrete evidence to fully back-up the accusations, but it is clear that the time period in which the evil acts were committed accommodated the murderers ability to remain free.
Jay Shukla 11K4 Kingsford Community School
