Law and Order in Late 19th Century

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Law and Order in Late 19th Century

In the 19th century the main aim of the Metropolitan police was to

deter criminals from committing crime rather than actually solving it.

However the police force did have to deal with many cases of

drunkenness and petty theft, which were common in 19th century London.

As well as dealing with the common crimes, the police also got

involved in controlling public demonstrations. They often used batons

to control the crowd and soon got a reputation for being heavy handed,

after a baton charge at a demonstration in Bromley in 1868, resulted

in a seventy-eight year old man being trampled to death.

Many people saw the police as Defenders of order. However many people

from working class background saw the police in a bad light (police

frequently went on the beat armed with cutlasses.) In fact the rates

of attacks on police officers were so high in some areas that police

officers were afraid to patrol these area on their own. The pay of a

police officer was deliberately kept low so that working class people

would be attracted to the job.

Police officers received very little training, most officers just had

to be able to read and write. Much of the time before they went out on

the beat was taken up with learning military drill. Inspections were

usually based on parades rather then on actual police work. Great

emphasis was put on personal appearance and good behaviour. Working

conditions were very hard, in many forces constables had to learn

their 'trade on the job'. Officers often had to spend up to fourteen

hours a day seven days a week patrolling the streets of London. During

the daytime officers ha...

... middle of paper ...

...the witnesses would keep a

cool head and be careful and objective about their evidence. The press

was a nuisance to the police, not only did they create hoaxes, but

they also dressed up a prostitutes and planted false evidence. The

media put the police under a lot of pressure to get a result. This

actually made it harder for the police as they arrested the wrong

people, just to please the media.

I feel that the most important reason why the police were unable to

catch Jack the Ripper was the nature of the investigation. The police

were not use to dealing with murders like this and this was an

important factor. In addition, they did not have very advanced

detective methods to use, which could have helped to catch Jack the

Ripper. However even today a murderer like Jack the Ripper would be

very hard to catch.

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