Policing Whitechapel

London's Metropolitan Police was run by a Commissioner, who answered to the Home Secretary, the government minister responsible for policing.

London was divided into lettered divisions. Whitechapel was covered by H Division, based at Leman Street.

The quality of recruits was a problem. Pay was low, and many recruits came from the countryside, or were ex-soldiers, with little knowledge of city life. Many were dismissed, often for drunkenness.

Most police work was done by beat constables. Each constable walked a fixed route, called a beat, on foot, at a steady pace, passing the same points at regular times.

Their job was to prevent crime by being seen, to deal with trouble, and to arrest suspects.

Problems: in the rookeries, the alleys and courts were dark, narrow and confusing. Criminals knew them well, and could quickly escape. Many residents distrusted the police and would not help them.

H Division faced many problems:

• Alcohol: drunkenness and fights, especially around the pubs.
• Prostitution: many poor women turned to it to survive, and were often in danger.
• Protection rackets and gangs: gangs made shopkeepers pay money to avoid being attacked.
• Violent demonstrations: protests about unemployment and poverty sometimes turned violent.
• Attacks on Jewish people, driven by antisemitism.

Significance: the police had to deal with all of these at once, with too few officers.

The CID, set up in 1878, provided plain-clothes detectives to investigate crimes.

In 1886, Sir Charles Warren, a former army officer, became Commissioner. He ran the police in a military style, and often clashed with the Home Secretary and with the head of the CID.

On 13 November 1887, a protest in Trafalgar Square about unemployment and Ireland was broken up by police and soldiers on Warren's orders. Many people were injured. It became known as Bloody Sunday, and made many people distrust the police.

Warren was strongly criticised during the 1888 murders, and resigned in November 1888.

Attitudes:

• Many poor people in Whitechapel distrusted the police, and saw them as interfering in their lives.
• After Bloody Sunday, many people feared the police were being used against ordinary people.
• During the 1888 murders, newspapers and magazines mocked the police for failing to catch the killer.
• But many middle-class people wanted more and better policing to keep order.

Significance: this lack of trust and cooperation made the police's job even harder.