PC Neil's Route

[The Station Cat]

Hi Monty

Just taking some guy down to the station would knock a huge hole in a beat, wouldn't it? You can't make a reluctant bloke walk at regulation speed.

Robert, what an interesting observation .

How about this then....................

What if PC Neil's beat, WASN'T his beat at all. What if he was on "Reserve", that night and had only been deployed to this beat, following the original officer covering that beat arriving at the station with a prisoner and then Neil being assigned to cover the beat whilst the original officer booked his prisoner in with the custody sergeant. That would certainly leave a large gap in the beat, more than enough time for Jack to do his work at a leisurely pace (perhaps Jack was even aware that the beat bobby proper was going to be committed for a while) and took the opportunity............

Further add to this that perhaps Neil hadn't done this beat before so didn't follow it exactly to form, this again might make gaps. Especially if he didn't know he was doing the beat incorrectly.

[Columbo]

You seriously need my book Columbo.

Beat constables walked their beats at 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 mph, depending on which shift they were on. The would meet with their section sergeants, at an agreed location, at set times during their beat. This to provide an update for the sergeant.

Sergeants would also do spot checks, to ensure the constable is where he should be. However, if a constable can provide a valid reason, such as making an arrest, dealing with a disturbance, or even on a tea break (yes, that was permitted) for not being where he should be, then he would be excused.

As for knocking up, it was a carry on from the old days of The Watch. It was permitted, only if it didn't impact on the beat constables primary duties, and with consent.

Monty

I'm looking for it. Amazon is out in the usa. I'll be a customer though

Columbo

[FrankO]

Well I was trying to make everything fit with his statement and what we (think we) know of his beat. So 'up Baker's Row' isn't inconsistent, if he turned into White's Row, although it's true that it's not as far 'up' as Thomas Street.

Whether he entered Buck’s Row from the north or south part of Thomas Street is perhaps not so important; the important thing is that both possibilities would explain why Neil didn’t see the carmen and vice versa, while the chance would be much smaller if he would have entered it directly from Baker's Row.

PC Neil said he said he "went across", which I took the mean across the intervening ground, rather than the street. Certainly his testimony seems to put him on the South side;

You’re right, Joshua, he was walking on the south side, it’s only the Lloyd’s Weekly News of 2 September that has him walking on the north side.

Best,
Frank

[GUT]

Are you looking for a cut also? ;-)

Monty

Nope, just believe in credit where it's due, if I see an error in the next one I'll be among the first to savage it.

[Monty]

You seriously need my book Columbo.

Beat constables walked their beats at 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 mph, depending on which shift they were on. The would meet with their section sergeants, at an agreed location, at set times during their beat. This to provide an update for the sergeant.

Sergeants would also do spot checks, to ensure the constable is where he should be. However, if a constable can provide a valid reason, such as making an arrest, dealing with a disturbance, or even on a tea break (yes, that was permitted) for not being where he should be, then he would be excused.

As for knocking up, it was a carry on from the old days of The Watch. It was permitted, only if it didn't impact on the beat constables primary duties, and with consent.

Monty

[Monty]

Now earlier it was rated top ten or even top two in ripper books, but I will tell you this, it is NUMBER ONE in police procedure books.

Are you looking for a cut also? ;-)

Monty

[Columbo]

Basically yes.

They were trained to walk at a fairly precise speed so if they started their beet at 10:00 they knew they'd be back at the start at 10:15, 10:30 etc.

I guess they'd also check when the passed public clocks, knew the clock at x church was 3 minutes into the beat, so 10:03, 10:18 etc and at Y building 12 minutes into the beat so same etc.

I understand that a knock up was for "When you pass my place on your 4:15 lap" etc.

Excellent. That helps a lot. Thanks.

Columbo

[GUT]

I forgot where I read this but Monty can probably verify it. The Bobbies on the beat had to adhere to a strict schedule. If anything happened on their beat and they weren't were they were supposed to be time wise they caught a lot of crap from their superiors. So I was trying to figure out if it was habit with the help of community clocks that was the most common way to judge time.

Columbo

Basically yes.

They were trained to walk at a fairly precise speed so if they started their beet at 10:00 they knew they'd be back at the start at 10:15, 10:30 etc.

I guess they'd also check when the passed public clocks, knew the clock at x church was 3 minutes into the beat, so 10:03, 10:18 etc and at Y building 12 minutes into the beat so same etc.

I understand that a knock up was for "When you pass my place on your 4:15 lap" etc.

[Columbo]

Probably not, but he'd have also known, almost to the second (well minute anyway) where he was supposed to be at any given time on his beat, he would have had a set time to complete his beat.

I forgot where I read this but Monty can probably verify it. The Bobbies on the beat had to adhere to a strict schedule. If anything happened on their beat and they weren't were they were supposed to be time wise they caught a lot of crap from their superiors. So I was trying to figure out if it was habit with the help of community clocks that was the most common way to judge time.

Columbo

[GUT]

So does anyone think Neil would have a pocket watch? was it uncommon for police not to have one?

Columbo

Probably not, but he'd have also known, almost to the second (well minute anyway) where he was supposed to be at any given time on his beat, he would have had a set time to complete his beat.

[Columbo]

So does anyone think Neil would have a pocket watch? was it uncommon for police not to have one?

Columbo

[Rosella]

I was discussing Polly the other day and the question of what she was actually doing in the godforsaken grimy spot where she was killed came up.

Ellen Holland was the last person we know of to see her alive. Mary was at that time alone and slowly meandering down Whitechapel Rd in the direction of Bucks Row.
Now, one can understand her hanging about Whitechapel Rd in order to catch a punter (well lighted, reasonably busy I suppose) but why take a customer to a short dark street consisting mainly of cottages and a board school? Was Browns Yard sometimes carelessly left open at night and therefore a good place to conduct business?

Or had Polly had reasonable pickings among the shift workers of nearby slaughterhouses before and decided to try her luck around there, happening to find Jack on the way back to the Whitechapel Road. Was there a pub near to Bucks Row where she could have been drinking, having found a client, and Jack picked her up there? Bucks Row just seems an odd spot for a rendezvous, that's all!

[GUT]

Different book, same author (sort of) holds that title.
"Police Code 1889"

Maybe.

[drstrange169]

Different book, same author (sort of) holds that title.
"Police Code 1889"

[GUT]

Excellent! I'll check that out. Thanks for the info.

Columbo

Now earlier it was rated top ten or even top two in ripper books, but I will tell you this, it is NUMBER ONE in police procedure books.