Starter Study this Victorian cartoon about the Metropolitan Police. What criticisms does it make of the police? What can you learn from it about ordinary people’s attitudes to the police in London? How is this source relevant to our Jack the Ripper investigation?

Jack the Ripper & the Police L/O: To understand why the police didn’t catch Jack the Ripper  - Describe methods available to the police  - Explain why the police investigation was difficult  - Assess how fair it was to blame the police for not catching Jack the Ripper Interpretations Primary Sources Change Continuity

Criticism “It is clear that the Detective Department at Scotland Yard is in an utterly hopeless and worthless condition; and that if there were a capable Director of criminal investigations, the scandalous exhibition of stupidity and ineptitude revealed at the East End inquests, and the immunity enjoyed by criminals, murder after murder, would not have angered and disgusted the Public feelings as it has done.” The East London Advertiser, a local newspaper “…The London police and detective force is probably the stupidest in the world…” The New York Times “The perpetrator would have been caught long ago but for the stupidity of the London police” Inspector Byrnes, New York Police What criticisms of the police were made in newspapers at the time of the Ripper Murders? What evidence is there of the murders’ public fascination?

Problems for the Police 1 Study the cards showing problems for the police: Add them into the appropriate section of the Venn diagram Arrange them in a diamond, from biggest problem to smallest problem Manpower 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Methods 9 The Media

How Fair? “It is clear that the Detective Department at Scotland Yard is in an utterly hopeless and worthless condition; and that if there were a capable Director of criminal investigations, the scandalous exhibition of stupidity and ineptitude revealed at the East End inquests, and the immunity enjoyed by criminals, murder after murder, would not have angered and disgusted the Public feelings as it has done.” The East London Advertiser, a local newspaper How fair is this criticism of the Metropolitan police in the Jack the Ripper enquiry? Identify two criticisms in the contemporary source Explain why the police faced problems solving the Ripper murders Judge how fair it was to blame for the police for not catching Jack the Ripper

Plenary Based on what you have learned about policing in the East End, how accurate is this interpretation of the Metropolitan Police in the late 1800s? Can you explain why the police faced so many difficulties?

There was no forensics or DNA information available to the Police – even fingerprints were not yet used to identify criminals Photography was not considered to be an important part of an investigation. Only one of Jack’s victims out of six was photographed at the crime scene The police relied on local contacts among the criminal community – but Jack seems to have worked alone, which made it harder to track him down The maze of alleys and narrow streets in the East End made it almost impossible for the relatively small police force to keep an eye on the comings and goings of suspects during their beat patrols Police were instructed not to talk to newspapers under any circumstances. This meant that journalists were forced to get in the way of the case if they wanted to find out how much progress had been made Lack of government trust and being understaffed meant that morale was incredibly low in the Criminal Investigation Department when the Ripper murders began in 1888 The Metropolitan Police had always been understaffed – and they were more understaffed in 1888 (8,773 police for 5,476,447 citizens) than at any point since they were created in 1829 The East End was the most crime-ridden area in England, and its inhabitants were notoriously unwilling to speak to the police about their comings and goings The police had ended the practice of offering rewards for catching criminals in 1884, because it was felt that it was not a reliable way of ensuring an arrest

“It is clear that the Detective Department at Scotland Yard is in an utterly hopeless and worthless condition; and that if there were a capable Director of criminal investigations, the scandalous exhibition of stupidity and ineptitude revealed at the East End inquests, and the immunity enjoyed by criminals, murder after murder, would not have angered and disgusted the Public feelings as it has done.” The East London Advertiser, a local newspaper “It is clear that the Detective Department at Scotland Yard is in an utterly hopeless and worthless condition; and that if there were a capable Director of criminal investigations, the scandalous exhibition of stupidity and ineptitude revealed at the East End inquests, and the immunity enjoyed by criminals, murder after murder, would not have angered and disgusted the Public feelings as it has done.” The East London Advertiser, a local newspaper “It is clear that the Detective Department at Scotland Yard is in an utterly hopeless and worthless condition; and that if there were a capable Director of criminal investigations, the scandalous exhibition of stupidity and ineptitude revealed at the East End inquests, and the immunity enjoyed by criminals, murder after murder, would not have angered and disgusted the Public feelings as it has done.” The East London Advertiser, a local newspaper “It is clear that the Detective Department at Scotland Yard is in an utterly hopeless and worthless condition; and that if there were a capable Director of criminal investigations, the scandalous exhibition of stupidity and ineptitude revealed at the East End inquests, and the immunity enjoyed by criminals, murder after murder, would not have angered and disgusted the Public feelings as it has done.” The East London Advertiser, a local newspaper “It is clear that the Detective Department at Scotland Yard is in an utterly hopeless and worthless condition; and that if there were a capable Director of criminal investigations, the scandalous exhibition of stupidity and ineptitude revealed at the East End inquests, and the immunity enjoyed by criminals, murder after murder, would not have angered and disgusted the Public feelings as it has done.” The East London Advertiser, a local newspaper “It is clear that the Detective Department at Scotland Yard is in an utterly hopeless and worthless condition; and that if there were a capable Director of criminal investigations, the scandalous exhibition of stupidity and ineptitude revealed at the East End inquests, and the immunity enjoyed by criminals, murder after murder, would not have angered and disgusted the Public feelings as it has done.” The East London Advertiser, a local newspaper