whitechapel

The metropolitan police force

Government directed police force policing the whole of London except for the city of London which had its own force

What needed to be in place

There needed to be cooperation between the Met and the City of London force when crimes occurred on the borders

Where did most police recruits for the met come from

Outside London and were attracted by the relatively good pay. Some had been soldiers but most had backgrounds in labouring or farm work

By 1885

The met totalled to 13319 to police a population of over 5m people and only 1.3K were on duty at a time

What was the main aim of the met

To prevent crime

How did it do that

main way of doing this was to deploy constables on the ‘beat’ - patrolling a set route of streets to deter criminals from committing crime , asking people what they were doing, break up fights, arrest suspects

The met was directly

Under the control of the Home Secretary unlike other police forces as he appointed a commissioner to run the metropolitan police

Why

The gov wanted direct control of london’s police force as it was worried about socialists and anarchists in some areas of London such as Whitechapel

Who was appointed met commissioner

Charles warren in 1886, a former army general

Achievement 1

Banned a planned unemployment protest in Trafalgar Square 1887 and when the protestors ignored the ban he deployed thousands of police supported by about 1K men from the army

What followed that

Violent clashes , many people were injured and one protestor died . Warren directed the operation from horseback

What else did he do

When JtR struck ihn the autmn of 1888 in Whitechapel warren ordered an increase in patrols and failure to catch the murderer cost warren his job

Attitudes towards the police

Varied widely as the police had people’s trust in some areas

But

Events such as Trafalgar Square riot of 1887 contributed to the feeling held by many working class people that the police force were against them and only worked for the middle and upper classes

Contributing

To the hatred of police was the economic depression and ensuring poverty of the period

CID of the met

Was set up in 1878 and those in CID (to detect crime) were separate from the rest of the force (to prevent crime) which clarified the roles of each

Previously

There had been a department to detect crime before but it was quite ineffective, initially the CID had little successes as shown by the investig into the murders committing by JtP in Whitechapel

Problem 1 met police faced 1870-1900

Whitechapel

Area of London just east of the city which was a district with very high levels of poverty and living + working conditions all of which contributed to a high crime rate

Where were most housing located

Rockeries (slum areas)- extremely overcrowded with poor sanitation

Where did one quarter of Whitechapel’s population live

In lodging houses where lodgers paid a nightly fee for a bed and access to a kitchen - they were particularly squalid

There were

Some attempts to improve housing

For example

George Peabody paid for a building of 11 blocks of flats in a former slum and the Peaboy estate opened in 1881 and tenants were charged reasonable rents

The last resort

Like elsewhere workhouses were seen as a last resort offering a bed and food in return for hard labour

In workhouses

Conditions were deliberately poor, families were split up and inmates had to wear a uniform

Most were

Elderly, ill , disabled, orphans, unmarried mothers

After 1880

Many young orphans were cared for barnardo’s homes where conditions were much better than the workhouses

Other than housing what’s LDR was a problem

There was high unemployment

Why

Because of an economic depression

For women

Only a few jobs were available so many turned to prostitution to survive

Those that had jobs

Worked long hours for low pay in factories in ‘sweated’ trades where conditions were cramped and dirty

Most

Worked building the railways or in the dockyards

For them

The pay was better but numbers required were variable so weekly incomes varied enormously

Link 1 between the enviro and crime

Low lincome levels led to stealing for survival by those desperate to avoid workhouses

Link 2

Unreliable or lack of work that meant many had spare time which led to alcoholism , disruptive behaviour, violence

Link 3

Overcrowding that led to tensions between residents which often split over into violence

Tensions between residents were especially between

London born and Irish and Jewish immigrants

Link 4

High levels of prostitution which led to violence on women

Crimes that were very common

Theft and assault, 1870-1900

Explain why theft was common

Due to high unemployment, unrealisable employment , low wages which led people to steal for survival

Second reason

Overcrowded conditions meant it was difficult to keep possessions private and stealing them was quite easy

There were

A large number of orphans that stole for survival and criminal gangs that operated at a high level

Why was assault common

Due to people living at very close quarters

Reason 2

Tensions between immigrants and local populations

Reason 3

Large numbers of prostitutes meant assault on women was common

Reason 4

Alcohol- large number of pubs, people with spare time etc

Whitechapel was

A melting pot of different religions, people, revolutionary groups

It’s population included

Many temporary residents and immigrants from Ireland and Eastern Europe

1) Irish immigrants

Many Irish left Ireland for the USA in 1840s but ended up in London instead

Lived

Poverty meant most could only afford to live in the least expensive parts of London

Worked

Most as dockers or navvies (labourers building roads, canals, railways)

Reputation

For being drunk and violent and were also associated with terrorism such as the fenians

The fenians

Were seen as fanatical terrorists fighting for Ireland’s independence from Britain

2) anarchists and socialists

From 1848 there was a wave of attempted revolutions across EUR and many of the revolutionaries ended up in london’s east end

What did the revolutionaries do

Movements set up or supported by them were anarchism which opposed organised gov and socialism which wanted the end of capitalism

Both movements

Were feared by the authorities and middle and upper classes but attracted some support from residents of Whitechapel

What happened to the population

Fluctuated

Why

Because most accommodation in WC was temporary which meant there were many temp residents who had no interest in fostering any sense of community

3) Eastern European immigrants

Huge influx of them in WC in the 1880s who mostly Russian and polish jews and who had fled persecution in the Russian Empire Moore after tsar Alexander’s assassination in 1881

Lived

Poverty meant they were only able to settle in the cheaper parts of London and they tended to stick together in these areas causing segregation

By 1888

Some parts of WC had a 95% Jewish pop

Tensions in WC

We’re high due to its varied and fluctuating pop

There were tensions between

Immigrant and local populations or access to housing and jobs

Jewish immigrants

That have recently arrived were prepared to accept lower pay and poor conditions leading to an increase in the sweatshop system which annoyed other workers and non sweatshop employers

Therefore

Anti semitisim and violence against Jews rose rapidly

Anyone with

A foreign accent was suspected of being a violent revolutionary

Blamed

Foreigners were blamed for many crimes such are the ripper murders which increased racial hatred and violence

Reason 1 why Eastern European Jewish immigrants were feared by other residents of WC

Many Jews were resented for being successful in business

Reason 2

Jewish business owners often preferred employing Jews who would accept lower wages and poorer working conditions

Reason 3

EE Jews segregated themselves

Reason 4

Different languages such as Yiddish meant the English didn’t know what they were saying and caused miscommunication

What about Jews

Irish immigrants had a reputation for drunkenness and violence

For both

Different religions (Jewish EE and Catholic Irish) and unfamiliar customs, clothes, food

And

‘Extreme’ or different political views - Irish nationalism/ femininism and anarchists/ socialists

The met police

Was divided up into divisions and WC was under the jurisdiction of H division

And

There were many difficulties in policing the area

What did the H division do

HD beat constables were each given a set route within WC to patrol, they were on the look out for trouble , stopped and questioned people to find out what they were doing

They regularly

Had to report to their Sargent and everything was recorded in a diary

How was policing in WC made even more difficult

By most of the locals’ attitudes

Why

Because the police was mistrusted

This meant

Problem 1 in policing WC for HD

The enviro: dark narrow alleys and courts with multiple doorways into rookeries packed with people and their possessions made chasing and finding criminals difficult

Problem 2: gangs

Alongside individ petty thieves large prof gangs of thieves and pickpockets cooperated

These gangs

Employed individuals who were well trained at both stealing and getting away from the crime

Problem 3: prodtitution

With very few jobs available to women some turned to Prost to survive

By 1888

Approx 1200 prostitu vulnerable to violence worked in brothels or on the streets

Problem 4: alcohol

The large number of pubs and gin houses in WC sold very strong alcohol at affordable prices

Drunkeness

Frequently fuelled violence and many alcoholics tuned to crime to feed their habits

Problem 5: protection rackets

Gangs such as the Bessarabia tigers demanded ‘protection money’ to ‘protect’ people’s businesses and refusal led to proterty damage and violence

What made this worse

Many feared these gangs which meant people very rarely reported them to the police and they either paid up or retalisted with violence themselves

Problem 6: attack on Jews

After large scale Jewish immigration in 1880s attacks on Jews became common , some police were antisemtic themselves while the lang barrier prevented others from helping catch their attackers

Problem 7: violent demonstrations

Public protests were fairly common in WC and the SDF was involved in many of these protests such as trafkagr square demonstration 1887

SDF

Social Democratic federation

Why did they cause problems for the police

Large numbers of angry people in one space frequently led to disorder and violence and needed a large number of police to deal with them

What was set up 1888

WC vigilance committee

Who set it up

Businessmen in WC due to the police’s lack of progress in catching the riper murderer