why were the police unable to catch jack the ripper?

Question

did the limits of the police work in the 19th century effect this?

Answer 1

Yes, although the police and a budding forensic service were making great strides in detection, most arrests in the 1880's were made on the basis of witness statements, and making assumptions about suspects based on class, and often race. A technique called the Bertillon method relied on appearance of suspects including height and the shape of the head. Fingerprint techniques were not to be introduced in England until 1901.
Because the 'Ripper' murders occur ed in a poor part of London, most of the likely culprits were thought to be local, or in the services eg sailors on leave. The fact the victims were known prostitutes, made it easier for the murderer to strike in remote areas, patrolled by a limited police force with only tin whistles for communication!
The evidence that showed the gruesome murders had been commited in a surgical fashion by possibly a trained surgeon, only added to the confusion. At that time there was a natural respect for any 'gentleman class', which possibly made the motivation to go down that pathway somewhat difficult to follow.
There seems to be evidence that at least one of the 'Rippers' mocking letters received by the police was genuine, but with little forensic support, only handwriting analysis was there to help.

Answer 2

They did not have the technology that they have to-day, and he didn`t leave that much evidence anyway. There really wasn`t a lot of interest in catching him as far as the general public were concerned, he was "only" killing prostitutes not "ordinary" girls, so they considered that he was doing a service to the community. Also at the time the police suspected a certain member of the aristocracy was the killer, they found it all but impossible to get further information about the man. This was because as always the aristocracy closed ranks on one of their own and would not assist the police in any way at all. Then quite suddenly the killings stopped, and the police just `forgot` about solving the case.

Answer 3

if you read any books about what London was like at that time it gives the impression that it was a horrible place full of drunks and prostitutes where no witnesses could really be relied on and forensic science basically didn't exist, since jack the ripper obviously knew what he was doing the police didn't stand a chance of finding him.
there was a book by Patricia cornwell that went into all the clues etc and used modern methods to establish who it was, its very interesting and would answer your question much better than a brief explanation since it is a very involved subject, the book is called "portrait of a killer"
i think laissezfaire2329 was talking about "spring heeled jack" which is someone different but also very interesting

Answer 4

Hello,
Probably because Jack the Ripper was too clever to allow the police to catch him. In these modern technology and scientific days of crime detection they would probably have caught him in the act....... Tony M

Answer 5

No, the police were not that interested in catching jack the ripper. We would not even be talking about this if it was not for the politically motivated newspapers making a big issue of it.

Hey, and it also sold papers.

Answer 6

If you've ever read A tale of two cities, then you'll discover that during this time period, Britain was obsessed with superstition, such as the abilities of Jack the Ripper. People claimed that he evaded police by leaping over 15 foot stone walls, and seemingly disappeared when the police arrived. Personally, I think he was a myth, like the ****-lane ghost, the murder associated with him were probably seperate events.

Answer 7

I herard that they never cought Jack the ripper because his killings were part of his being in a cult. And the members of the cult were in positons of power in the police dept.

Answer 8

It was a Royal Cover-up...That is why Abberline went to interview the Duke of Clarence at Buckingham Palace then retired!

Answer 9

Definitely! You answered your own question.
They had a lot of suspects and probably one of them was the Ripper.
Patricia Cornwall wrote a book on him and I believe she probably has the correct person , who was the Ripper, but there will always be people who disagree !

Answer 10

They knew who jack was all right,but as all policemen like to do,they covered it up