Sources A and C
There is some evidence of source C that supports Source A.
Firstly both sources notify that money was not the intention of the murderer, this is identified in source A by the phrase ‘no adequate motive’ and from Source C ‘there was no money on the body.’ Both sources reveal that violent behaviour was used in the murder of the victims; this is proven in source A by the words ‘extraordinary violence’ and in source C ‘long incision’ also ‘cutting the windpipe completely.’
There are also some differences between the evidence in sources A and C. Source A is a tabloid newspaper, which means that the writer of the article can sensationalise what he or she is writing. This is shown by the heading ‘an article in the East End Observer.’ Also the newspaper might not give all the facts. Source C is a doctor’s report, which basically only describes the fact so no false information is given. This is shown by the title of Source C ‘the report of Dr Frederick Blackwell on the body of Elizabeth Stride.’
Sources B and C
Both Sources are doctors reports, this is shown in source B ‘Coroner’s report’ and in Source C ‘Report of Dr Frederick Blackwell,’ this suggests that both sources are accurate and professional. Both sources try to say indirectly that someone of their own profession must have committed the murder. This is proven by the phrase ‘considerable anatomical skill and knowledge’ in source B also proven in source C by the phrase ‘Long incision’ (which is normal done by doctors or surgeons).
There are also some differences between sources B and C. Source B describes the murder and Source C describes the state of the victim.
3) Sources D and E have some useful points on the understanding of why the police couldn’t catch Jack the Ripper. Firstly the statement given by Elizabeth Long was to vague because she used the words ‘I think’, ‘as far as I could tell’ and ‘looked like.’ The police couldn’t make any major action because they never had a definite description of the murderer. Secondly the police found an apron with blood beneath it, this could have belonged to one of the victims but the problem was in 1888, the police didn’t have the equipment to find out if the blood is one of the victims. This made it harder for the police to catch Jack the Ripper because they couldn’t use the clues they found. Also Elizabeth Long was describing a statement which even she wasn’t sure about; this tells us that the statement could be a lie or the truth. Source E shows that a policeman didn’t cooperate with the other policeman, making it harder to catch the ripper. Also the rubbing out of the writing tells us that Whitechapple is a not easy an easy place to control. The police took the statement made by Elizabeth Long seriously, and they put a lot of time looking for people who are or seemed like foreigners. Source E also shows that the police were more concerned about the public getting into outbreak rather than Jack the Ripper.
4) Use Sources F and G, and your own knowledge, to explain how the police tried to catch Jack the Ripper.
There are many ways that the police tried to catch Jack the ripper. Firstly the police published a leaflet after the murders of Elizabeth Stride and Kate Eddows shows us that the police wanted the public to get involved. This shows that the police were desperate to catch Jack the Ripper, after the third and fourth murders. Even though the leaflet was too difficult for most of the people around, it still shows that the police tried what they could.
Secondly the police started to take photos by the time of the seventh murder, this shows that forensic science has improved and that they are putting more time and effort to find clues.
Thirdly inspector Frederick Abberline became in charge of the investigation. Fredrick Abberline has served for 25 years in the Metropolitan police force; this shows that he has a lot of experience. Most of Abberline’s time was spent on crimes in Whitechappel, so he knows the area well. All the facts about Abberline show that the police force has elected someone good for the case. More police officers were out on duty in Whitechappel. This wasn’t much use because the police officers weren’t well trained. Even though the police officers weren’t trained it still shows that the police still tried to catch the ripper. The police interviewed about 2000 people showing that they wanted to stop the murders. To show that the police really tried they even dressed as prostitutes so the ripper would come to them. The police responded quickly to the murder of Polly Nicholls because they knew that it was a serial killer, so they took the murders seriously. The police put more street lamps so the ripper could be spotted. The police arrested ‘Leather apron’ who had at least one conviction for stabbing but he was soon released after having alibis. Even if ‘Leather Apron’ wasn’t the ripper it still shows the police tried. Also slaughterers and butchers workers were investigated as sharp knives were used by the ripper on the victims.
5) Firstly the police were too easily convinced of certain description for e.g. ‘looked foreign.’ This shows us that the police weren’t well trained. Secondly the police were too slow to react to the first murders so the ripper had more time to prepare his next victim. Rivalry between Metropolitan and City police made it harder to catch the ripper as information between the two were not shared. The leaflet asking for information was too advanced for most of the public. If the police used the information on the Coroner’s report they would have searched for doctors and surgeons, but they thought highly educated people would not commit such a crime, this was a big mistake. By studying source E the police were to be blamed of not capturing the ripper as they lost the handwriting of which could have been the rippers. Even the writing on the wall could have caused clashes between the Jews and other religions the police should have photographed the writing before rubbing it out. The police believed some witness but ignored other evidence, for e.g. they believed William Hutchinson’s description which was almost too good of a description but the police never thought of investigating Hutchinson, as he could have been the ripper. The police force should have reduced the working hours of police officers, because police officers got tired after long hours so they wouldn’t be bothered about capturing Jack the ripper.
The media made it harder for the police to capture Jack the ripper because they made the murders look fascinating which confused the police and made the public more tense. As the murders were all at random it was difficult for the police to find any clues as the murders had no relationships. Copy cat killing just confused the police even more also the police didn’t know if it was one or more murderers. These days the police have finger print testers, DNA and other advance technology and they still took a very long time to catch the Yorkshire ripper. In 1888 the police had hardly any technology, so you could imagine why the police didn’t capture jack the ripper. There was far too many letters being sent which confused the police and wasted there time because the description given were different from each other so the police couldn’t tell which one is believable. The police could have put a reward for any evidence given but there were too many time wasters, so it made life harder for the police to gain any clues. There was also a lack of communication between the public to the police. the only way the police can capture Jack the ripper is by accidental circumstance because not a trace was left of the murders.
