After assessing all the above sources I have come to a conclusion that the police were not capable of catching the Ripper. I believe this because there was a lack of police at the time as quoted in source A1 but also we found from source A6 that fingerprinting and police photographing was appointed after the 1900’s. Therefore they wouldn’t have all the modern technology they have today so it would be unfair to say they should have been able to catch ‘Jack the Ripper’.
In this section I am going to use the sources to asses whether or not living conditions made it hard to catch the Ripper.
The first argument I will be evaluating is that the living conditions in Whitechapel did make it hard for the police to catch the Whitechapel murderer. Source B1, B2 and B6 were written by middle class visitors to Whitechapel. This makes them unreliable as they could be biased and exaggerate the truth as they were not used to the conditions. It’s also limited because it doesn’t tell us the purpose why they were written. However, it is a primary source so includes some reliability. Source B1 demonstrates just how much Whitechapel was overcrowded. This shows it would be very easy for ‘Jack’ to blend in or get away from the police. ‘Every citizen wears a black eye’ is a quote taken from Source B2. From this we can tell the crime rate must have been high and so no on would notice anything suspicious. Also practically everyone was always drinking and so wouldn’t notice any screams. It would also mean that most witnesses would have been unreliable due to being drunk. Source B6 backs up this point as well does source B2 by saying ‘Filthy men and woman lived on gin’. Source B5 gives us a good overview of Whitechapel. It quotes ‘The police used to make a point of going through this only in couples.’ From this we can see how dangerous Whitechapel was at the time. Also people fighting and screaming was a regular thing as a quote fro this source says ‘an out surging into the streets with fighting and screaming’ the source was taken from a description published in November 1888 after the murders. It is reliable as it is a primary source; however is gives no information on why it was published or who wrote it. Therefore we can not judge if it has much reliability as it could be bias or just completely untrue.
Some people argue that the living conditions in Whitechapel weren’t that bad. ‘All the surviving descriptions were written by middle class people who were horrified by what they saw’. This is a quote taken from Source B3 which supports the point. It explains that the other quotes were written by middle class visitors which were not used to the conditions and could have exaggerated their views. Another quote that supports this is ‘the levels of crime were not high’ this suggests that even though Whitechapel had a bad reputation, it is only opinionated and the facts prove differently. The source was taken from Law and Order, recently published by London revision and was written to show we can’t trust the sources written by middle class visitors in Whitechapel.
In conclusion I believe that the Whitechapel conditions did make it hard to catch ‘Jack’. This is because police were reluctant to go into certain areas, overcrowding and an unrecorded immigration class meant it would be easier to “disappear”. Also the “casual” violence of everyday would be ideal for the Ripper to hide his murder making it extremely difficult for the police.
In this section I am going to use the sources to asses whether the Whitechapel murderer had medical training.
The first argument is that the statement is true. Source C2 quotes ‘no unskilled person could have known where to find the organs’. The purpose of this source is to prove jack did have medical knowledge. The source is reliable as it is a coroners report and therefore official and would be the truth. The only limitation would be there wouldn’t have been any forensic evidence to support it. Source C3 also backs up this point as it tells us how precisely Elizabeth Stride was laid out. For example it quotes “her feet close against the wall of the right side of the passage” The source is from a report of Dr Frederick Blackwell explaining how her body was laid out. It is a primary source but could also be opinionated.
On the other hand some people argue that the killer did not have medical training. Source C1 explains that some people believed that the murderer was crazy and violent but didn’t necessarily have medical knowledge. It uses quotes like ‘excess of effort’, ‘demented being’ and extraordinary violence’ to explain how crazy and violent ‘Jack’ and the murders were. The source was taken from a tabloid newspaper ‘the east end observer’ It was written to describe the murders of Martha Tabram and Polly Nichols to the public. Therefore it could be biased, exaggerated and catered for the illiterate to sell newspapers. However, it is still a primary source. Also the source isn’t that useful to us as Martha Tabram was not thought to be one of ‘Jacks’ murders.
My overall conclusion is that the riper did have medical knowledge. This is because Source C2 and C3 come from reliable sources where as C1 is from a tabloid newspaper. It would be very hard to find the organs with no medical knowledge. However, with no forensic the coroners report could be unreliable.
In this section I am going to discuss whether it was the fault of the police force and there investigation that led to the Whitechapel murderer never being caught.
The first argument is that the Whitechapel murderer was never caught because of the poor police investigation. One reason for this is because the commissioner, of the metropolitan police, ordered that the message written by chalk at the death place of Catherine Edows to be wiped away. The message said “The juwes are the men that will not be blamed for nothing” The message could have caused more of a disaster as it could have caused people attacking the Jews. We see this from source D5. This was a major mistake as this could have been vital evidence that would have helped solve the case. The information is reliable as why would the police lie about making this mistake, however, there was no photographs or evidence of the message so it is also very limited. Also the police warned about how dangerous the streets were but they failed to act. Source D3 quotes “he warned that murder would ensure if matters were left as they are”. The police had rubbish tactics as the offered money to anyone who could discover the criminal. This would mean poor people would come forward and pretend to be “jack” in order to claim the money. “It tended to do more harm than good” a quote taken from source D6.
Alternatively, some people argue that it wasn’t the fault if the of police force that the Ripper was never caught. Source D3 explains that the murders were done so cunningly that it’s no wonder the police couldn’t catch him. “Not a trace is left of the murders” is a quote that supports this argument. The source is reliable as it is primary and is a broadsheet and there for must be factually balanced. Also the police had hardly any witnesses and those that did come forward would have most likely been drunk. We see this problem from Source D4 as the witness said things like “but I cannot be sure.” and “as well as I could make out”. This would be difficult for the police to work with.
In conclusion, I believe it was the fault of the police force that the Ripper was never caught. However, it wasn’t their fault completely as they didn’t have all the new ways of catching criminals we have today and “Jack” left no trace as we can see from source D3.
From analysing all of the sources, I can now answer the question, was it the fault of the police that Jack the Ripper was never caught? I believe that it wasn’t the fault of the police. This is because during the time that the police were looking for the Ripper, they didn’t have half the things we have today, so I believe it is unfair to judge them by today’s standards. They had a shortage of officers and considering the over crowding streets and the constant repetitive crime, the police had no chance of catching someone with such skill. The Whitechapel conditions were also on the Rippers side. The smog and the drunken citizens overcrowding the streets would not have been any help to the investigation. The experience and expertise of the Ripper would have also largely contributed to the failure as most criminals would have had no experience and would have been easy to catch, where as “Jack” was just too clever even for the entire police force. Not to mention the lack of equipment the police had, there was no finger printing or DNA, this meant that they had no way of tracking the Ripper as he was to clever to leave any evidence useful to the police behind.