In this time period a lot of women within Whitechapel turned to prostitution to survive. In 1889 estimates of 1,200 prostitutes were in Whitechapel. This is shocking and this number doesn’t include the women who took clients from time to time. As a result of this many men from other areas visited Whitechapel in order to look for prostitutes and there were about 200 or more lodging houses available for accommodation in Whitechapel. This wouldn’t seem to be much of a problem but many lodging house did not ask many questions about the lodgers. If lodging houses asked more questions maybe a pattern would occur in connection to jack, or maybe someone would’ve saw something out of the ordinary and more witnesses would’ve been available. We can identify a point in time where the people of Whitechapel restricted the police’s ability to persuade witnesses to come forward. This was when they were unable to offer a reward for information that would lead to the discovery of Jack the Ripper as they were aware that the local community would react by forming hoaxes, giving false information and wasting valuable police time. We know this as Source G, which is a letter from the home secretary to the Mile end Vigilance committee, states experience showed that such offers of reward tended to produce more harm than good’. Source G is dated on the 17 of September 1888 and its purpose was to explain to the Mile High Vigilance committee that putting forward a reward would negatively affect the investigation as it had done previously. The behaviour of the people of Whitechapel is not particularly the police’s fault and it could be said that the Whitechapel community are to blame for the shortage of tenable witnesses of Jack the ripper and therefore they are to blame for the fact he was not captured, not the police.
Another key reason why the police were not to blame for capturing Jack the ripper is the fact that the murderer himself was without doubt hard to catch. It is thought that Jack had local knowledge of the area of Whitechapel. This meant it would have been easy for Jack to have quickly escaped down one of those dark back routes in total awareness of where it would lead him. Jack also chose his appearance wisely, we know from previous knowledge that Jack did not wear clothes that made him stand out and source D supports this in Elizabeth Long’s description of a man she saw talking to Annie Chapman before she was killed. This may have been Jack and in describing what he was wearing she used phrases like ‘deerstalker hat’ and ‘dark coat’. These pieces of clothing she described would’ve meant Jack was well camouflaged to suit the dark streets of Whitechapel and his face wouldn’t have been seen when hiding under that deerstalker hat. This would decrease the ability to identify Jack and describe him to the police, making their investigation harder. This was not the police’s fault and as we can see Jack is making it very hard for the Police to get a decent witness.
The youth of the police force also had some responsibility for not imprisoning Jack the Ripper. The police force had a lack of experience especially concerning serial killers and almost all methods of solving crimes that we use today were not invented or unknown. For example there were no forensic experts to study fingerprints, obtain DNA evidence or even to study the handwriting of the letters jack sent to the police. This would mean the police would be totally dependent on things like clues left behind such as badges or items and witnesses’ accounts. This made it harder for the police to carry out their investigation as Jack left no clues and jack’s attire meant he was harder to see or be described by witnesses. The Police were also under a lot of pressure, as local elections were being held in London and the Radicals (the left party) used the murders in Whitechapel as an example of how poor the west end of London was. Source E also gives us evidence of an article criticising the police it states “My informant demanded at the time that the police force on the spot should be strengthened and some kind of order created on the streets at night. He warned that the murder would happen again if matters were left as they were. He was referred from one police officer to another. Then came the first murder. He went to the police again and warned them that there would be more mischief unless they could clear the streets of the open and defiant ruffianism, which continued to make night hideous. Then came another murder.” The lack of experience and the pressure placed on the police would have probably affected their work; they may have been inconsistent and vague in investigating evidence and suspects. This is not the police’s fault.
On the other hand there are many reasonable points to suggest that the police were to blame for not capturing Jack the Ripper. Firstly there was a lot of stigma surrounding the police as it was believed that they looked down upon the poor and the working class. People of Whitechapel also believed that the police didn’t do anything and it was known that many police officers were corrupt. This meant that the people of Whitechapel lost trust in the police and that could’ve been a reason to refrain from going forward with evidence. If the police built trust between the people of Whitechapel Jack may have been captured. Another point that suggests the police were to blame is the fact that there were so many prostitutes in Whitechapel yet prostitution was illegal and this infers that the police were doing little to nothing to make sure women were not going into prostitution, or arresting those that did. In failing to do this prostitution was made common in Whitechapel therefore prostitution was accepted. If the people were able to build a stigma around prostitution there would be less prostitutes and people would be able to recognize the victims of Jack the Ripper more successfully. This would support an argument claiming the police were to blame for not capturing Jack the Ripper. The police were also underpaid and overworked; they could work up to fourteen hours a day for seven days a week then receive 19 shillings a week – which is less than a farm labourer. This meant that they would have been very tired and maybe even lazy in performing their duties. If the police were not doing their jobs to the highest of their ability concerning the Jack the Ripper murders it suggests that the members of the Police that have high authority and that make decisions concerning the police officers’ pay and work hours are to blame for not imprisoning Jack the Ripper.
In addition to this Source F, which is a leaflet posted to 80,000 homes around Whitechapel, shows us how the police were not efficient in confirming that all residents of Whitechapel were aware of the murders taking place or where to go if they had information as these leaflets were only printed in English whereas there were countless foreigners present in Whitechapel. This is an irresponsible and careless act and also tells us the police could’ve been to blame for failing to capture Jack the Ripper.
The police’s methods of questioning could’ve been a reason Jack wasn’t caught, as they only questioned particular groups such as butchers, slaughterers and doctors and also only questioned the people of Whitechapel, when it was suggested (even by queen Victoria) that Jack the Ripper could have been a doctor that did not originate from Whitechapel. If the police made sure that their questioning was done thoroughly Jack may have been caught. The police also wasted time by questioning these slaughterers and butchers as Source B, which is part of the coroner’s report concerning the death of Polly Nicholls, states “No mere slaughterer of animals could have carried out these operations”. And in questioning these groups of people the police are not taking action on the evidence given to them.
Overall I do not believe the police are to blame for not capturing Jack the Ripper. This is because the environment and the nature of Whitechapel had a negative effect on the case making it much harder for the police, which were already under a lot of pressure and already against a very intelligent killer. Although this is what I believe there are also reasons to suggest the police were to blame for not capturing Jack such as the dismissal of important evidence and the high level of crime before these incidents took place, but I also think these are fractionally justified by their lack of experience.
