I did this for my GCSE History. Grade: A
The murders of Jack the Ripper took place in Whitechapel in 1888. They were the most gruesome murders London had ever seen but still, the Ripper remained uncaught. The police were unable to catch Jack the Ripper due to the area of Whitechapel, the unreliable witnesses, the racial tension of Whitechapel, the modus operandi of the killer and the inadequate police force. Due to the poorly lit streets of Whitechapel, the Ripper was able to work without being seen. This caused problems for the police as witness statements could not be truly reliable as they could have been mistaken about what they saw. The racist tension also made it difficult for the police to catch Jack the Ripper as there was a lot of fighting between the Jews and the people of Whitechapel. This also made witness statements unreliable because one person could easily be blaming another out of spite. These are the main reasons the police were unable to catch Jack the ripper but I believe the most important reason was because of the area of Whitechapel.
In 1888, Whitechapel was a poorly lit and foggy area of London. Most alleyways and squares had no light at all. This would make the murders easy for the Ripper to commit as all of his victims were prostitutes who would take men into one of these dark alleyways. There were also many slaughterhouses in Whitechapel. This meant there were bloody streets and people could walk around covered in blood without catching anyone’s attention. This was one of the main problems for police while they were looking for Jack the Ripper. Racial tension was also common in Whitechapel as many Jews were living in the area at the time. This caused fights around Whitechapel as many of the residents didn’t want the Jews there. This caused even more problems for the police as this tension made witnesses unreliable. The public would commonly claim that Jack the Ripper was a Jew. The police then had to waste time investigating these allegations to see if there was any truth to them. However, the statement that Jack the Ripper was a Jew is unreliable as many people would make this claim to spite the Jews in the area. The cobbled streets also made it difficult for the police to catch Jack the Ripper as footsteps would have been easily heard. This meant that people walking down the street and the horse pulled carriages on the street created a lot of noise. This noise would have blocked out any screams the victims could have made.
The 1888 police force was another reason the Ripper was able to remain uncaught. The two police forces – the City of London police and the Metropolitan police – found it difficult to co-operate with one another. Both wanted the glory of catching Jack the Ripper. In order to do this, both police forces would keep vital information from each other and officers were ordered to keep any information to themselves until they could tell the police force they worked for. Due to this lack of co-operation, the Ripper managed to evade both the City of London police and the Metropolitan police. This wasn’t the only reason the police failed to catch Jack the Ripper. The dark and foggy alleyways and streets of Whitechapel made it difficult for the police to catch Jack the Ripper red handed. This was a problem because, before forensic evidence, the only way to prove someone committed the crime was to catch them in the act or get them to confess. The police were also bombarded with letters from people claiming to be Jack the Ripper and witness statements that may have been very unreliable. Not only this, there were many riots in Whitechapel due to the racial tension in the area. While dealing with the riots, police were not giving their full attention to the murders of Jack the Ripper. The police would also destroy valuable evidence. On the night of the double event, a message was found in Goulston Street near the site of the Eddowes murder. The message read “the juwes are the men that will not be blamed for nothing.” However, Sir Charles Warren ordered his men to wipe it off of the wall before it was seen by the public. This was a mistake as, properly recorded; this piece of evidence would have been a vital clue that could have lead to the capture of Jack the Ripper.
The modus operandi of the Ripper links back to the area of Whitechapel and the inadequate police force. It caused many problems for the police. This was because all of his victims were prostitutes and would take men into the dimly lit areas of Whitechapel. This meant that they were out of sight of the police. The Ripper would then strangle them until they were unconscious or dead preventing them from screaming. He worked quickly and at night making it difficult for the police to catch him red handed. Due to the darkness, witnesses who may have seen him cannot be trusted and due to the racial tension, the police were busy trying to control riots in the area. This meant the Ripper would have time to kill his victim and escape without being seen by nearby police. The Ripper would also lie his victims on the ground, stay at the right side of the body and reach over and cut their throats from the left. This meant the blood would flow away from him and he would remain unstained by the blood. Even if he had got blood on himself he could still walk down the street unnoticed. This was because of the many slaughterhouses in the area. Because of these slaughterhouses, it was common to see people walk down the street covered in blood. Therefore, even covered in blood, the Ripper would still blend in with the crowd.
In 1888, many Jews lived in the Whitechapel area. This caused a strong racial tension in the area which was made worse by the Ripper murders. Many Jews were wrongly accused of being Jack the Ripper in the hope of getting rid of them. This led to many witnesses claiming that Jack the Ripper was a Jew. This caused problems for the police as these accusations led to riots in the area. The press didn’t help the situation. They made it worse by claiming that Aaron Kosminski, a poor polish Jew, was identified as Jack the Ripper. This led to an uproar in the Jewish community and even more riots and fires happened in Whitechapel. This caused problems for the police because, as they were dealing with these riots and fires, Jack the Ripper had the perfect opportunity to move around Whitechapel without being noticed by police.
Witness statements surrounding the case ranged from being trustworthy to completely unreliable. Many of the witnesses gave statements in the hope of getting someone in particular arrested while others were more interested in the capture of the Ripper. Many witnesses were claiming Jack the Ripper was a Jew due to the unpopularity of the Jews and the racist tension that existed in Whitechapel at the time. Others couldn’t be trusted due to the dimly lit streets and police thought they could have been mistaken in what they saw. However, the police took peoples words and followed up some of the leads. Unfortunately many of these leads were false and wasted the time of the police. This meant that Jack the Ripper was free to kill while the police investigated. Many of the witnesses may have been acting to spite somebody and claiming that they were Jack the Ripper as revenge. Due to the unreliable witnesses, Jack the Ripper continued to evade the police.
I have written about the five main points of why the police were not able to capture Jack the Ripper. I believe the main reason was the area of Whitechapel itself. I think this because, although there was no forensic evidence in 1888, the police still did everything in their power the stop Jack the Ripper. Even though the unreliable witnesses, racial tension of Whitechapel, the modus operandi of Jack the Ripper and the lack of co-operation between the two police forces were a hindrance to the case, I still believe the main reason the Ripper avoided capture was due to the dark and dimly lit streets and alleyways of Whitechapel. These streets would have provided the perfect cover for the Ripper as he murdered his victims. This is why the police were unable to catch Jack the Ripper
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