Edexcel History GCSE Crime and Punishment - Policing Methods to try and catch Jack the Ripper
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Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History Crime and punishment through time, c1000-present Student Book
This document contains each policing method used to try and catch the Ripper, the description of the method, whether the method was old or new to the Ripper murders, the rating of effectiveness and an explanation as to why I have rated it that way.
GCSE Edexcel History Crime and Punishment Whitechapel notes
GCSE Edexcel History Crime and Punishment 1900- Present Notes
GCSE Edexcel History Crime and Punishment Notes 1700-1900
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Police method Description of the method Was this old or new to the Ripper murders? Effective Rating
Careful observations of The Police Code, written by Howard Vincent, said crime scenes should be kept clear of This was an old method, but made more professional and
crime scenes onlookers. Detectives should make careful notes. This includes bruises and blood marks, standardised by the Police Code.
e.g. we know all the victims were on their back when they were killed. Police were more careful to make notes as more Ripper victims
4/5
were found.
Photography and Sketches were made of some, but not all of the victims where they were found. Technological advances mean police photography was relatively
sketches Photographs were not used widely by the police in Whitechapel. Photographs were new.
taken of all the women’s faces, but only after they had been killed. Only the body of The fact that the last Ripper murder was photographed at all was 2/5
Mary Kelly – the last victim – was photographed where she was found. because by this stage the City of London Police was supporting the
Whitechapel police, and the City Police were more familiar with
using photographs
Arranging post-mortems All of the Ripper’s victims were given autopsies (an autopsy – also called a post mortem Autopsies and post-mortems have been happening since ancient
examination – is where the body is cut open to look for clues that explain their death. times. In England, coroners were set up by Richard I in 1194. The
One of the clues given from the autopsy was that the murderer was left-handed, skilled methods of autopsy did not change because of the Ripper
4/5
with a blade and would have understood anatomy (how the body was made up). This murders.
meant the police investigated hospitals, vets, and slaughterhouses. 76 butchers were
interviewed.
Interviewing witnesses There were very few people who claimed to be eye witnesses. Anyone who did claim to Interviewing witnesses was nothing new. Professional systems had
and following up leads be a witness was interviewed – this included people who were not necessarily telling the been in use since 1881. But after the ‘Double Event’ the police
truth and the police struggled to tell useful information from exaggeration. All leads started knocking on door to door nearby the murder scenes
from the public had to be followed up just in case they proved to be helpful. For looking for witnesses. A full-scale search of lodging houses led to
example, lots of people suggested the murders were committed by a criminal gang from over 2000 people being interviewed. The police even printed 3/5
nearby Bethnal Green, who had stolen money from prostitutes. But this was eventually handbills (a type of leaflet) asking people to come forward with
ruled out. information.
Following up clues from Annie Chapman’s body contained a piece of an envelope with a distinctive seal attached. This was another old method. Detailed notes of the possessions on
the victims possessions. This was investigated but it was discovered it could not be easily linked to a single each of the Ripper victims were made either by policemen at the 2/5
person. Police also went to pawnbrokers and jewellery shops to try and track down scene or by the coroner when investigating the dead body.
Annie Chapman’s missing rings which had been taken from her fingers.
Visiting lunatic asylums Because the murders were so savage, it was assumed that the Ripper was insane and This was not a new method for the police. Escapes from mental
could have escaped from an asylum, or been housed in one after committing similar asylums were rare but did happen. In January 1888 a ‘criminally 1/5
crimes. insane’ killer called James Kelly had escaped and attacked another
man before being caught again
Setting up soup kitchens The Met Police were not allowed to offer money as a reward, as it might attract time- This was a new method used in Whitechapel, and was based on
wasters, but local police encourages poor people to come forward as witnesses by the necessity of tracking down an unknown killer in a large region 2/5
promising a hot meal. This might also attract one of the many homeless residents of
Whitechapel
Bloodhounds The police experimented with using bloodhounds to track the scent of a suspect. The Although Bloodhounds had been used since Roman times to follow
dogs, Barnaby and Burgho performed well in trials in London parks, but the police failed animals during hunting parties, this was a brand new method by
to pay their owner who moved back to Yorkshire – this was awful timing and meant they the police. Using Bloodhounds to catch criminals by following their
3/5
were not in London to be used when the body of Mary Kelly was found (this was the scent from a crime scene has been used since the Ripper murders
best chance of finding the Ripper)! effectively.
I think that arranging post-mortems were the most effective. This was when the victims of Ripper w
that explain their deaths. This helped with the investigation to find Jack the Ripper as they found ou
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