Why the Police were Unable to Catch Jack the Ripper

Why the Police were Unable to Catch Jack the Ripper

In the Victorian Times, smog was a big problem. It made visibility

extremely bad, so the murders would have been harder to witness. There

were lots of prostitutes because there weren’t many jobs available for

woman, so they were forced on the streets. Most turned to alcohol. The

people out at the time of the murder would have been tramps and

drunks, not reliable witnesses. The East End streets were maze-like,

and easy to escape from. These were a few of the problems the police

encountered.

Jack the Ripper was extremely clever to be able to evade the police

the whole period in which he committed his murders. He chose different

locations for his murders, so the police couldn’t track his movements.

He didn’t know his victims, so no link or pattern could be

established. Also, no inquires could be linked from the people who

knew the victims. It is likely he was rich, because he probably had a

carriage due to the swiftness of his escape from the crime scene. This

is because some of the bodies were found still warm. He was able to

blend in with the East End, and not stand out, so that suggests he may

have been originally from the East End. However, there’s always the

possibility he was just mad, and randomly picked his victims and was

blessed with luck.

There was massive interference from the press which immensely delayed

the case. Journalists weren’t interested in the truth; they just

wanted a good story that would sell papers. They frequently talked

about how the police still hadn’t caught the murderer. This placed

pressure on them, causing them to change the detective in charge...

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...r half was sent to Mr. Lusk in a box. However, the Lusk letter was

not written by the same person as the Dear Boss letter. They realised

this at the time, but it still caused confusion and disgust at the

time.

All of these ‘leads’ cost the police valuable time, when they could

have been investigating things that could have led to the criminals

capture.

I think the biggest factor that allowed Jack the Ripper not o be

caught was Jack the Ripper himself. If it had been any other person,

they probably would have slipped up and gotten caught. But his

cleverness, unpredictability, the fact no one could trace him, and how

he was able to escape the scene of the crime without being seen, all

means it was extremely difficult to catch him, of course, add in all

the other factors, and the police were doomed from the start.