Focus Question - How did Jack the ripper effect the criminal investigation industry
"All the things that we would do at a crime scene now they wouldn't be able to do then, they didn't have fingerprints, blood group, blood type"- Laura Richards (behavioral psychologist)
The Jack the Ripper homicides took place in a ‘pre forensic science’ time where the overall responsibility for these crimes fell to the Metropolitan police’s criminal investigation department. The killings presented the police with a type of crime they had little experience in solving as they were forced to face off against a lone, ruthless and opportunistic serial killer which left no clues. The Ripper can be thought of as one of the first prototypes who matched the
definition of a serial killer and he was able to create panic and grab
the attention of the media and the public and has, as a result, become engraved
in crime history.
The Ripper investigation saw the development of policing techniques, crime scene preservation and profiling.
Theories
Jack the Ripper directly influenced the development of police theorycrafting; this is portrayed through the development of concepts in relation to the Ripper murders. It was initially believed that the crimes were being carried out by one of one of the local gangs however by early September 1888 the police had concluded that if the gangs were responsible the publicity and panic that the murders had generated would have led one of the members to inform the others. This led to the development of the search for a lone assassin. This development of suspects from a group to a single killer presents Jack the Rippers influence on the development of police theories.
The Ripper investigation also saw police take public opinion and input into greater account as the killer had not been seen or caught by authorities the general public became a valuable and necessary asset. The voice of the public helped form two theories
The Ripper investigation also saw police take public opinion and input into greater account as the killer had not been seen or caught by authorities the general public became a valuable and necessary asset. The voice of the public helped form two theories
The killer demonstrated some amount of medical and/or anatomical knowledge. To this end the police began looking into the activities of several medical students who had spent time in asylums.
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The murder did not demonstrate any great degree of medical skill and opined that his abilities were little more than those of a butcher or slaughter man. The police, therefore, carried out extensive inquiries amongst the numerous local butchers and slaughter houses.
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Policing Techniques
Jack the Ripper presented the police with a type of crime and criminal they had little experience with prior, this saw the development of existing policing techniques in conjunction with the creation of new ones.
“Jack the Ripper`s killing spree was unique and unheard of in its savagery and managed to establish and bring about the new concept of the dangerous modern serial killer.” – Arash Farzaneh
“Jack the Ripper`s killing spree was unique and unheard of in its savagery and managed to establish and bring about the new concept of the dangerous modern serial killer.” – Arash Farzaneh
The law could do little more than flood London’s east end with bobbies, take witness statements and gather evidence however due to the unknown nature of the Ripper this was expanded onto a larger scale. Over 2,000 interviews were carried out by the Victorian police officers, more than 300 people were actually investigated and 80 people were detained in police custody, portraying the development of large scale investigations due to the Jack the Ripper slayings.
The fear and anxiety brought upon London’s east end through Jack the Ripper also saw an increase in patrolling. Both police and vigilance committee members inundated the streets right after Jack claimed each victim in the belief that this would deter him from finding another victim a night or two later without putting himself in a position where he was likely to be caught in the act.
The need to catch the Ripper in the act also saw the conception of the ‘sneaker’ "out of necessity the sneaker was invented, to our clumsy regulation boots we nailed strips of rubber and so ensured some measure of silence” - Jack the Ripper the first serial killer
The fear and anxiety brought upon London’s east end through Jack the Ripper also saw an increase in patrolling. Both police and vigilance committee members inundated the streets right after Jack claimed each victim in the belief that this would deter him from finding another victim a night or two later without putting himself in a position where he was likely to be caught in the act.
The need to catch the Ripper in the act also saw the conception of the ‘sneaker’ "out of necessity the sneaker was invented, to our clumsy regulation boots we nailed strips of rubber and so ensured some measure of silence” - Jack the Ripper the first serial killer
Crime Scene Preservation
The investigation of the Ripper murders saw development in
the field of crime scene preservation. This is conveyed through the homicide
investigation of Mary Ann Kelly where
the first use of crime scene photography was implemented, creating a permanent visual representation of her slaying.
Crime scene preservation was further developed through the Ripper
investigation as by the late 1888 the police were beginning to ensure that the
scene of the crime was not touched or altered at the time of investigation.
This is showcased through the murderous scene of Milles Court which was kept
secure from the public so that bloodhounds could be brought in to sniff out the
killer.
Profiling
The case of Jack the Ripper effected the criminal investigation industry through profiling, as slaughter continued and the investigation deepened police began to ‘put together the pieces’ and establish the field of profiling.
Through the commonality that the victims were killed in the early hours of the morning or on weekends investors were able to speculate that
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The technique of profiling through the comparison of victims was also borne out of the Ripper investigation. This resulted in the conclusion that multiple victims could be attributed to one lone assassin as all but one woman was killed by strangulation, once laid carefully on the ground, the killer cut the victim's throat, beginning with the side facing away from him. This effectively drained the blood from the victims before he began the ritual evisceration. Much of the organ removal was done cleanly.
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The opinion offered by Bond on the profile of the Ripper is the earliest surviving offender profile. Bond’s assessment was based on his own examination of the most extensively mutilated victim and the post mortem notes from the four previous canonical murders.
He Wrote: “All five murders no doubt were committed by the same hand. In the first four the throats appear to have been cut from left to right, in the last case owing to the extensive mutilation it is impossible to say in what direction the fatal cut was made, but arterial blood was found on the wall in splashes close to where the woman’s head must have been lying. All the circumstances surrounding the murders lead me to form the opinion that the women must have been lying down when murdered and in every case the throat was first cut.”
Jack the Ripper was a lone assassin who can be thought of as one of the first serial killers by definition. The Rippers affect on the criminal investigation industry is conveyed as his slayings presented the police with a crime they had little experience with before consequently causing the investigatory industry to evolve and adapt effectively pioneering the development of policing techniques, crime scene preservation and profiling and engraving the infamous Jack the Ripper in criminal investigation history.