Why were the police unable to catch Jack the Ripper

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Saagar Kotecha 10SZ

Why Were the Police Unable to Catch Jack the Ripper?

There are many reasons why Jack the Ripper was never caught. The main factors were because of the nature of the killing, the limitations of police methods, rivalry between the police forces and other problems with the investigation.

Nature of the Killings:

        Whitechapel being the home to the lowest, poorest class of people, housing approximately 1,200 prostitutes and many immigrants was where a lot of crime took place. Prostitution made these women an easy target for people like Jack the Ripper because prostitutes were the people who took their clients into dark, deserted alleyways. Jack the Ripper probably being a person who despised women used the extreme vulnerability of prostitutes (lowest type of woman) to guide them into alleys were he horrifically mutilated them. There were only ever a few witnesses, many of whom were reluctant to come forward as they were middle classed men in search for prostitution. This made it very difficult for the police to solve the mystery. Other witnesses who did come forward were afraid of retribution or were just not interested in solving the case. Since Jack the Ripper was the first ever serial killer and seemed to have no motive of murdering these women which most of the murder cases did compose of, the police were clueless in trying to predict his next move. This was one of the many reasons why the famous Jack the Ripper was never caught.

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Limitations of Police Methods

        When it came to catching criminals, police were exceedingly limited in the methods which they used. Photographic evidence had just been introduced whereas forensic evidence and finger printing had not even been invented. As there was no such thing as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing, the police could not tell whether the blood was from the victim or the murderer or in another occasion whether the blood was from a human or from an animal. Since psychological profiling did not exist in the 19th century, the police could not build up a profile of the murderers’ ...

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