Opinions On London's Finest

[Simon Wood]

Hi All,

The Metropolitan Police came in for a fair amount of criticism during the Whitechapel murders.

Here is the American journalist Blakely Hall, London correspondent of the New York Sun, in an extract from a long article comparing American, British, French, German and Russian police.

Syracuse [NY] Sunday Herald, October [7, 14 or 21] 1888—

"The astounding career of crime of the mysterious Whitechapel murderer of London has called attention to, in some respects, the most remarkable body of men in the world. Anything to equal the stupidity, density and general opaqueness of the average British detective it is impossible to imagine. When I went to London I took letters to the most famous of the London policemen—Chief Inspector Littlechild of Scotland Yard. I found him a remarkably affable and pleasant man, and he seemed to have a fair grasp of the criminal question in London, but the men beneath him looked as though they had been especially built and designed by nature to serve as butts to the playful wit and fancy of clever criminals. That [? ? ?] word 'chump' describes the average London sleuth-hound."

A number of not very flattering illustrations, like the following, accompanied the text.



Regards,

Simon

[lynn cates]

cute

Hello Simon. Thanks for posting this.

The Russian detective is cute.

Cheers.
LC

[Barnaby]

This is a good example of physiognomy, totally debunked of course.

[Fisherman]

Lynn:

"The Russian detective is cute."

You may the only one who recognized him, Lynn ...

As an aside, it can be mentioned that when prime minister Palme was killed out on the open street in Stockholm in 1986, the ensuing efforts of the police to catch the killer were of such a magnitude as to inspire Punch magazine to joke about it, along the lines:

"I have two news, one bad and one good"
"What´s the bad one?"
"The police are after us!"
"Bilmey! And the good one?"
"They´re Swedish police!"

The Ripper affair was very useful for all other police sources, who could claim that they would have caught they guy - without having to prove it.

The best,
Fisherman

[Phil Carter]

Hello Simon,

After Hillsborough, I won't ever be able to say "No, cover-ups by the police for their own gain don't happen".

When the whole of the South Yorkshire Police Force knew what went on at Hillsborough and nobody said diddly squat as the police covered their own backsides, and apportioned blame on dead people.. visions of Sir Robert Anderson apportioning blame to the Jews came to mind.
If you have read about Hillsborough Simon... it is sick making. And it is a manipulated, contrived, cover-up from top to toe.

What price was Foinavon again?

The horse that caused the pile up in the 67 National was called... Popham Down.. Pop 'em down...geddit?

best wishes

Phil

[jason_c]

Hello Simon,

After Hillsborough, I won't ever be able to say "No, cover-ups by the police for their own gain don't happen".

When the whole of the South Yorkshire Police Force knew what went on at Hillsborough and nobody said diddly squat as the police covered their own backsides, and apportioned blame on dead people.. visions of Sir Robert Anderson apportioning blame to the Jews came to mind.
If you have read about Hillsborough Simon... it is sick making. And it is a manipulated, contrived, cover-up from top to toe.

What price was Foinavon again?

The horse that caused the pile up in the 67 National was called... Popham Down.. Pop 'em down...geddit?

best wishes

Phil

There is no comparison. The South Yorkshire police force were looking after themselves. Careers and livelihoods were at stake. The issue was poisonous for twenty years. Anderson on the other hand was talking about a cold case that no-one cared that much about. This of course doesn't mean he was wrong or that he didnt lie. Simply it means that the same motives and pressures in both cases were markedly different.

[Mutt]

The London Metropolitan Police do not have a monopoly on past acts of poor police conduct, especially command or administrative incompetence in addition to outright corruption. Whether it is the suppression of crime statistics for the purpose of providing a false sense of police competence or the inflation of crime reporting via statistical manipulation to justify budgetary increases, unethical police administrators have been and will likely continue to be a major concern, particularly in large urban centers. Reading this thread reminded me of the story of a Russian serial killer and the ridiculous behavior of the soviet authorities during the investigation.

Andrei Chikatilo, sometimes called “The Red Ripper” (among other nicknames), was active in the Soviet Union during the late ‘70s and ‘80s. As I remember the story, the Soviet authorities actively suppressed news of between fifty and sixty brutal rape murders, all for political reasons. They also were not thrilled with the concept of a “serial killer” in their country.