Jack The Ripper - law and order, publicity and why the killer escaped justice.

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Drew Williams 10H

1. Describe Law and Order in London in the late 19th Century? (15 marks)

Prior to 1829, London was a time of disruption, chaos and little law and order and this is highlighted by events such as The Gordon Riots and Peterloo. As a result, the Government introduced the Metropolitan Police in 1829 to act as a deterrent. The Met police was formed in a very adhoc nature, with its purpose being to stop riots, rather than preventing and solving crime. Although it was very necessary, the sheer number of inefficiencies of the police force meant that overall, they were relatively ineffective and law and order remained weak.

Despite the introduction of the Met in 1829, the law and order in London was still very weak and this was due to the embryonic and amateurish nature of the police force. The recruitment was solely based on height, not a relevant measure of how adequate a policeman is, and this lead to poorly qualified officers. Furthemore, the police force was highly inefficient and there were examples of officers falling asleep and acting drunkenly while on duty. Moreover, there was an ongoing battle of power between the Metropolitan and City police and there was confusion over who actually policed London.

As well as the poor officers and organisation, the Met also used illogical and useless methods when attempting to solve crime. Phrenology, the judgement of a character by the size and shape of their skull, was employed by the Met and was futile in solving crime. Police also photographed the eyes of the victim and thought that it would show the reflection of the killer. These methods were all clearly ineffective and police wasted a lot of time using them and this was one reason why policing and law and order was so weak in the 19th Century.

Throughout this period, there were some trends in the types of crimes which were committed and the 19th Century saw a huge rise in crimes such as murder, rape, robbery and prostitution, which all stemmed from the heavy drinking problem. With such serious cases becoming a common occurrence, the police almost became accustomed to them and were lacklustre when investigating them. This was highlighted in the Jack the Ripper, when the illusive killer was able to mutate 5 women.

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Although the introduction of the Met caused some improvement in law and order in London, it was still embryonic and amateurish and so the impact was minimal. England’s law and order was far inferior to other countries around the world, which includes India who introduced fingerprint identification by this time.  Poor recruitment and organisation, futile methods and a large number of crimes all contributed to the weak law and order system which was in place during 19th Century London.

2.Why did the Whitechapel murders attract so much attention in 1888? (15 marks)

The five Whitechapel murders in ...

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