Jack The Ripper And The Associated Deaths

Evaluate the effectiveness of the police investigation into Jack The Ripper and the associated deaths.

The investigation into the Serial Killer, Jack the Ripper remains one of the greatest historical mysteries of all time. The police report was carried out by the Metropolitan police, and while the police report was generally considered thorough and intensive at the time, contradicting witness reports and with the lack of forensic science, many problems arising in the police forces involved contradicting witness reports, the investigators ultimately failed to identify and catch the killer.

One of the main challenges investigators in 1888 had to face when attempting to catch the killer was the lack of forensic science at the time. In modern

Due to the time when Jack the Ripper usually struck, and his supposed black clothes, witnesses were unable to give an accurate and proper witness report. In the murder of Elizabeth Stride, witness Israel Schwartz supposedly witnessed the actual murder of Elizabeth. According to Historian Richard Jones, in his article titled “The Final Sighting of Elizabeth Stride”, written in modern times, he states that Jack the Ripper “was about 5 feet, 5 inches tall, aged around 30 with dark hair, a fair complexion, a small brown moustache”. However, according to The Evening News, published on September 29th, 188, the killer had “a thick black moustache and no beard.” instead of a “small brown moustache”. These little differences occurred throughout most witness statements about the appearance of the Ripper, however some similarities, such as the killer being “5ft. 5in. in height” were present. Based on witness reports, sketch artists at the time also did not help and most likely hindered the police investigation, as many citizens called the police on any person that had even a slight resemblance to Jack the Ripper, which wasted the police’s time and effort. Along with fake reports from Journalists, people claiming to be or people claiming to have seen Jack the Ripper had gone to such a degree where an entire task force had to be made for these fraudulent claims which wasted the police's efforts and time. During 1888, witness reports were usually varied and thus unreliable to the police