Whitechapel
Housing
Slum areas - rookeries
Overcrowded, poor sanitation (John Snow)
Peabody housing estate
Opened in 1881, with reasonable rents
Lodging houses
Nightly fee for a bed and kitchen
Particularly squalid
Around 1/4 of Whitechapel's population lived in these
Provision for the poor
Workhouses seen as a last resort
After 1880, orphans were cared for in Barnardo's, which had better conditions
Workhouses
Hard labour for food and a bed
Deliberately hard
Unemployment
An economic depressions forced people into low-payed, long hours of factory 'sweated' trades
Many also worked manually on the railways or dockyards - better paid, but varied enormously due to the unreliable demand
Reasons for high crime
Low income levels led to stealing for survival
Reasons for tension
Unreliable work led to lots of spare time
Overcrowding led to tensions, especially between Irish and Jewish immigrants
High levels of prostitution led to violence
Irish Immigrants
Were often left in London on the way to the US
Reputation for being drunken and violent
Associated with the Fenians
Irish terrorists fighting for independance
Anarchists and Socialists
Wave of revolutions from 1848
Wanted the end of capitalism/government
Feared by the authorities, and upper classes
Population
Fluctuated, leading to temporary residents who had little interest in community
Eastern Europeans
Mostly fled from persecution in the Russian Empire
Could only afford to settle in the cheaper areas
Stuck together, leading to segregation
Results
Tensions over housing and jobs
Jewish immigrants would accept less pay, and worse conditions - boosted the sweatshop system
Anti-semitism rose
'Foreigners' blamed for crimes, and being violent revolutionaries
Policing
The MET in Whitechapel
Represented by H Division
Constables led by sergeants
Attitudes
Locals mistrusted them
Frequently attacked
Little co-operation
Problems
The Enviroment
Dark, narrow alleyways/rookeries made chasing and finding criminals difficult
Gangs
These were large, professional, and well-trained at both committing and escaping the crime
Prostitution
Women often turned to prostitution, becoming vunerable to violence, working in brothels or the streets
Attacks on Jews
Police were anti-Semetic, and the language barrier prevented them helping
Alcohol
Easily available due to the large number of pubs etc. Fueled crime, as alcoholics turned to violence
Protection Rackets
Demanded money for 'protection' - led to damage and violence. Fear meant these were rarely reported
Violent Demonstrations
Protests were common - led to violence, and required lots of police present
Whitechapel Vigilance Committee (1888)
Set up by businessmen due to the police's lac k of progress
Offered a reward for info
Patrolled the streets
Hampered the investigation by sending false leads, and critisism
Investigative policing
Techniques
Door-to-door for evidence
Leaflets and adverts appealing for info
Following up clues
Following evidence from the bodies
Photographs and detailed sketches
Setting up soup kitchens for infomation from the poor
Interviewing suspects and witnesses
Problems
Overlapping police forces led to clashes between them (esp. in Whitechapel) e.g. between the CID and the MET
Improvements
Bertillion system recorded photographs etc of suspects, and stored centrally
By 1900 the introduction of telephones i mproved the speed and communication between police
The Media
Although it encouraged people, it led to increased hoax letters and theories on the identity
Stirred up racial hatred against foreigners
Added to the pressure of the police due to increased criticism
Led to more violence, discrimination and attacks against foreigners
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