Why did the police in 1888 never catch Jack the Ripper
Why did the police in 1888 never catch Jack the Ripper?
In the autumn of 1888, an air of mystery and terror cloaked and surrounded the city of London. An unidentified murderer who had given himself the name Jack the Ripper was loose on the streets of the east end, killing and mutilating innocent women whilst the police seemed helpless, unable to catch the killer. But why was Jack the Ripper never caught? In this essay I will investigate the reasons why the infamous murderer was never caught, including how the press interfered, how the area itself prevented the police from finding out who Jack the Ripper was and argue that the main cause was the police themselves.
Interference from the press is one example of how the police’s investigation was hindered, the Whitechapel murderers caused a massive amount of press coverage across the country, the police soon became suspicious and wary due to the idea of the articles alerting suspects of their lines of inquiry. Journalists would even go so far as to follow detectives, hoping for information to be revealed. Furthermore, they would make up false leads and suspects and publish them which would prevent the investigation from moving forward. As well is this, there is a theory that the famous ‘Dear Boss’ letter, said to be written by Jack the Ripper himself, was actually a hoax written by the press to generate more interest in the story. This would most definitely obstruct the police’s investigation and therefore would prevent Jack the Ripper from being caught. The press would have helped Jack the Ripper indirectly, with every new lead they published and suspect they claimed to be the murderer, the true Jack the Ripper’s identity would get further and further away from the police’s grasp.
If the letter was genuine, there is evidence within the letter to suggest that Jack the Ripper was not actually a doctor, a lead which the police looked into thoroughly “I saved some of the proper red stuff in a ginger beer bottle
In the autumn of 1888, an air of mystery and terror cloaked and surrounded the city of London. An unidentified murderer who had given himself the name Jack the Ripper was loose on the streets of the east end, killing and mutilating innocent women whilst the police seemed helpless, unable to catch the killer. But why was Jack the Ripper never caught? In this essay I will investigate the reasons why the infamous murderer was never caught, including how the press interfered, how the area itself prevented the police from finding out who Jack the Ripper was and argue that the main cause was the police themselves.
Interference from the press is one example of how the police’s investigation was hindered, the Whitechapel murderers caused a massive amount of press coverage across the country, the police soon became suspicious and wary due to the idea of the articles alerting suspects of their lines of inquiry. Journalists would even go so far as to follow detectives, hoping for information to be revealed. Furthermore, they would make up false leads and suspects and publish them which would prevent the investigation from moving forward. As well is this, there is a theory that the famous ‘Dear Boss’ letter, said to be written by Jack the Ripper himself, was actually a hoax written by the press to generate more interest in the story. This would most definitely obstruct the police’s investigation and therefore would prevent Jack the Ripper from being caught. The press would have helped Jack the Ripper indirectly, with every new lead they published and suspect they claimed to be the murderer, the true Jack the Ripper’s identity would get further and further away from the police’s grasp.
If the letter was genuine, there is evidence within the letter to suggest that Jack the Ripper was not actually a doctor, a lead which the police looked into thoroughly “I saved some of the proper red stuff in a ginger beer bottle