Whitechapel

• Police recruits for the Met

  • most came from outside London for the relatively good pay
  • in 1885 the Met totalled just 13319 and only 1383 were on duty at a time
• Constables walked the 'beat' to deter crime, ask people what they were doing, break up fights and arrest suspects
• The CID was set up 1878
• During this period, Sir Charles Warren was the Met Commissioner, appointed in 1886
• Housing in Whitechapel

  • 'Rookeries' were extremely overcrowded and had poor sanitation
  • 1/4 of the population lived in lodging houses, which were squalid
  • George Peabody paid for the building of 11 blocks of flats, the Peabody Estate opened in 1881 (attempt to improve housing)
• Workhouses

  • seen as a last resort
  • offered a bed and food in return for hard labour
  • families were split up and inmates had to wear a uniform
  • after 1880, many young orphans were cared for in Bernardo's homes
• There was high unemployment due to economic depression. Those who had jobs:

  • worked long hours in bad conditions
  • worked building railways or in the dockyards
• Reasons for crime in Whitechapel

  • Low income meant stealing was necessary
  • Unreliable work led to spare time that people used to drink, be disruptive and violent
  • Overcrowding and tensions
  • High levels of prostitution led to violence on women