Describe Law and Order in the Late 19th Century.
. Describe Law and Order in the Late 19th Century
In the 19th century the main aim of the Metropolitan police was to deter criminals from committing crime rather than actually solving it. However the police force did have to deal with many cases of drunkenness and petty theft, which were common in 19th century London. As well as dealing with the common crimes, the police also got involved in controlling public demonstrations. They often used batons to control the crowd and soon got a reputation for being heavy handed, after a baton charge at a demonstration in Bromley in 1868, resulted in a seventy-eight year old man being trampled to death.
Many people saw the police as Defenders of order. However many people from working class background saw the police in a bad light (police frequently went on the beat armed with cutlasses.) In fact the rates of attacks on police officers were so high in some areas that police officers were afraid to patrol these areas on their own. The pay of a police officer was deliberately kept low so that working class people would be attracted to the job.
Police officers received very little training, most officers just had to be able to read and write. Much of the time before they went out on the beat was taken up with learning military drill. Inspections were usually based on parades rather then on actual police work. Great emphasis was put on personal appearance and good behavior. Working conditions were very hard, in many forces constables had to learn their 'trade on the job'. Officers often had to spend up to fourteen hours a day seven days a week patrolling the streets of London. During the daytime officers had to walk about seven and a half miles without a break. At night-time it was two miles.
Capital punishment was a common way of punishing criminals in the eighteenth century. These executions were very popular with the local people who came to watch. Public executions were stopped in 1868, but capital punishment still continued in Britain up until the 1960's. Imprisonment was also widely used. Prisons were harsh, a common punishment in prisons was 'the crank', and this was a handle attached to a crank, which the prisoner had to turn a certain number of times each day. Some times a prison warden would tighten the screw in the crank just to make it harder. Many prisoners were also punished with solitary confinement. This meant that they were shut up in a room on their own all day. Some prisoners were sent out to penal colonies in Australia and New Zealand.
The first detectives were appointed in 1842, but the public was concerned that the plain clothed police officers could not be easily identified. In 1862 photos of criminals were taken in prison, and then sent to Scotland Yard where they formed the 'Rogues Gallery'. The photos were taken because police believed it was possible to identify criminal 'types' from the shape of their heads.
The Criminal intelligence Department (CID) was set up in 1878 and this led to considerable improvement in detective methods especially in forensic science. John Toms was convicted of murder in 1884 because the ...
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The first detectives were appointed in 1842, but the public was concerned that the plain clothed police officers could not be easily identified. In 1862 photos of criminals were taken in prison, and then sent to Scotland Yard where they formed the 'Rogues Gallery'. The photos were taken because police believed it was possible to identify criminal 'types' from the shape of their heads.
The Criminal intelligence Department (CID) was set up in 1878 and this led to considerable improvement in detective methods especially in forensic science. John Toms was convicted of murder in 1884 because the torn paper he used for his pistol wadding was the same as that found in the head wound of his victim.
Even though the police forces improve greatly in the late nineteenth century, many of the things we take for granted such as DNA testing were yet to be discovered.
Why did the White chapel murders attract so much attention in 1888?
There are several reasons why the Jack the ripper murders attracted some much attention. The first was the media. Newspapers exaggerated what had happen, publishing all the gory details to make people buy the paper. This increased fear among the people. When 'leather apron' was a suspect, the media reinforced the fear by publishing details of the man. There are many stories of the papers making things up, just to keep the focus on the murders.
The media links with the nature of the crimes as they gave all the details of the crimes. The nature of the crimes was gruesome as Jack the ripper was the first official serial killer.
Nobody could understand why these crimes had been committed, and this links with the Victorian fascination with murders, mysteries and unsolvable crimes. Arthur Conan Doyle was an author who wrote the Sherlock Homes mysteries. These stories were all about murder mysteries and increased the fascination with crime.
As the murders were unsolvable, this links with the nature and extent of the police investigation. The police were not use to solving crime, and they did not have much evidence to go on, most of the witness reports contradicted each other. They suspected many people especially people with experience in dissecting bodies, after the way the women were cut up following the murder. They used leaflets to raise awareness of the murders and to try and catch the killer.
The way the police handled the investigation reflects the reputation of the police. Many people thought the police were ineffective, heavy-handed, and not good enough. The police were not very popular among the working class people living in White chapel at the time. The police did not like the nature of White chapel.
White chapel was a poor working class area. There was social reform, with people wanting to improve conditions; many people went on protests and strikes, including the 'match girls' strike led by Annie Besant, in 1888. Because White chapel was a poor working class area, with lots of dark alleyways, it was the right environment for crime. Victorians had paranoia about crime and the nature of White chapel had an impact on this paranoia.
At the time cities were very big and people that moved to Britain from other countries were very mistrusted. Foreigners were blamed for most of the crime that was committed. Most of the witnesses in the Jack the Ripper murders describe him as foreign looking middle class man.
I think that the most important reason why the White chapel murders attracted so much attention in 1888 was the media. It was through the media that so many people heard about the murders in the first place, and the papers played on the fear that people had by reporting to the best of their ability all the gory details to try to sell the most papers.
Q.3 why were the police unable to catch Jack the Ripper?
There were many reasons why the police were unable to catch Jack the Ripper, the main ones being the police investigation, the issues with the murders and the media.
Jack the Ripper was the first official serial killer. Until 1888, the police had no experience with dealing with such a criminal. The police were a newly formed organization and did not have any of the detective methods that we now take for granted. Bloodhounds were used for the first time in 1888 to try to catch Jack the Ripper, but they did little to help the investigation.
There were many witnesses, most with conflicting stories. This caused problems especially when it came to the time of death, as the police usually sided with what the police surgeon had to say. The police also destroyed some evidence, the writing on the wall found after the fourth murder, as the police felt that it was insulting to the Jewish community living in White chapel. There were two police forces in London at the time, the City police force and the Metropolitan police force. The two police forces did not get on too well, and this caused problems when it came to solving the murders. The only real chance the police had of catching 'The Ripper' was in the act, however the streets of White chapel, were foggy and dark and there was a distrust of the police. This made it even harder to catch 'The Ripper.'
The murders themselves made it hard to catch 'the Ripper.' They seamed to be motiveless and this baffled the police. Most murders knew their victims, but in the case of Jack the Ripper, the murderer and his victims were strangers, who met by chance. Even today these type of murders are hard to solve. The murderer was very clever as he left no clues at the scene. The trail stopped after the fifth murder and there were no more clues or information. The bodies of the victims were dissected which led the police to believe that someone with some form of medical knowledge was to blame.
In White chapel there were many slaughterhouses so it was common for people to have blood on them, also as there were many horse and carts around there were also lots of water trough so it would have been easy for the murder to wash the blood off himself. Although the murders were all committed at the weekend and the murder might have not been a White chapel resident, the police still suspected people who lived in White chapel. All the suspicion led to many Jews being suspected, while others may have misled police for their own motives.
The media published details of the murders to keep the story alive. This increased the public fascination and interest, which led to many hoaxes. This hindered the police investigation, making it difficult for the police to be effective. The media focused on the sensitive issues like the amount of immigrants which influenced the police enquiry. The newspapers published a description of a Jewish man to inflame public opinion and force the police to arrest him.
The media also reported hoaxes which took up a lot of police time and resources. The reports also inflamed public opinion and this led to many attacks on foreigners which also took up police time. As well as increasing public fascination the media also intensified the fear in White chapel. This made it less likely that the witnesses would keep a cool head and be careful and objective about their evidence. The press was a nuisance to the police, not only did they create hoaxes, but they also dressed up a prostitutes and planted false evidence. The media put the police under a lot of pressure to get a result. This actually made it harder for the police as they arrested the wrong people, just to please the media.
I feel that the most important reason why the police were unable to catch Jack the Ripper was the nature of the investigation. The police were not use to dealing with murders like this and this was an important factor. In addition, they did not have very advanced detective methods to use, which could have helped to catch Jack the Ripper. However even today a murderer like Jack the Ripper would be very hard to catch.
