Do We Trust The Policework?

[Paddy]

Mixed Tales

It seems that most of the info coming from police was mixed with bits from one suspect and bits from another. I wonder if this may have been deliberate to hide the true identity and confuse. Could the identification have been another suspect (sadler maybe) and got thrown in for good measure?
Just a thought.
Pat...........................

[Damaso Marte]

Hi again Damaso

But it was no ordinary copper who divulged the information relating to the Seaside Home, it was no less a personage than the officer in overall charge of the investigation Chief Inspector Donald Swanson, later Superintendent. Is it possible he was duped?

Many posts have been submitted regarding the marginalia, from "is it a fake," to "is it a garbled amalgamation of several stories circulating at the time". I personally do not believe it is a fake. I honestly believe that the marginalia portrays a genuine event, and that Kosminski was the suspect identified.

Regards

Observer

If it's real, why are the police memoirs so inconsistent?

[curious4]

Old fashioned police work

Hello all,

Don't knock the police at the time. They may not have had modern forensics etc but did have one thing missing from our faceless times - gossip and local knowledge. The policemen in this area knew who was there, who was likely to cause trouble and who was new to the area. The older policemen had patrolled the area for years and probably knew every inch of it. When you don't have to sit in front of a computer and complete reams of paperwork, there is time to talk. Which is exactly what they did. They used the same pubs, ate in the same eating houses, transacted with the same ladies of the night and most probably shared a cuppa with many a friendly occupant.

As an example of the power of gossip, here in Stockholm, a fairly small city in terms of numbers, I found out among other things, that my optician had his prosthetic leg made in various colours to charm the ladies and that a doctor in one of the hospitals neglected her children (or was said to, to be fair). All this because someone I knew knew someone else whose sister worked in etc etc and so on. This is something perhaps lost to today's police but which is perhaps making a comeback in the wake of Facebook and Twitter and so on.

Although they do still apparently have to spend far too much time sitting in front of a computer or doing paperwork.

Best wishes,
C4

[Observer]

If it's real, why are the police memoirs so inconsistent?

Hi Damaso

Perhaps this particular memory was nigh on accurate. I say "nigh on" of course for Swanson got a few little details incorrect.

Swanson wrote that Kosminski spent time in Stepney Workhouse, and then was sent to Colney Hatch, whereas, in truth, Kosminski spent time in Mile End Workhouse, and then was sent to Colney Hatch. Swanson has Kosminski dying shortly after entering Colney Hatch, whereas, Kosminski died in 1919.

We don't know when Swanson wrote the marginalia, it was sometime after 1910, the year of publication of Anderson's book. So at least 18 years after the alleged identification.

Incorrect Workhouse, I'll forgive him for that. Kosminski's time of death is more problematic. I doubt he would have went out of his way, at the time of writing the marginalia, to enquire into the exact date of Kosminski's death.
Perhaps Swanson, being mindful of the state of Kosminski's health, upon admittance to Colney Hatch, he presumed he had died shortly after he was incarcerated.

Regards

Observer

[Bridewell]

Incorrect Workhouse, I'll forgive him for that. Kosminski's time of death is more problematic. I doubt he would have went out of his way, at the time of writing the marginalia, to enquire into the exact date of Kosminski's death.

Always assuming that the Kosminski alluded to by Swanson was indeed Aaron Kosminsky. Likely but not certain.