Science of the Investigation of Crime
| Published date | 01 October 1984 |
| Date | 01 October 1984 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8405700413 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
STUART S. KIND*
SCIENCE
OF THE
INVESTIGATION
OF
CRIME
English text
of
a lecture delivered in French at the Institute
of
Police
Science. Lausanne. Switzerland to an audience
of
police officers.
lawyers. doctors
and
scientists.
On
January
2, 1981,PeterW. Sutcliffe, the "Y orkshire Ripper", was
arrested in Sheffield, England. This man had, for 5 1
/2years from July,
1975, until
January,
1981, terrorised the female population of the
North
of England. At his trial in May, 1981, Sutcliffe pleaded guilty
to the murder of 13 women
and
the attempted murder of seven
others.
Throughout
this 51
/2years of the "Y orkshire Ripper" series of
murders, asustained investigation of the crimes was maintained by
several police forces in the
North
of England, particularly by the
West Yorkshire Metropolitan Police, aided by all modern facilities,
including those of the Home Office Forensic Science Service and the
Home Office pathologists. Finally, Sutcliffe was arrested simply
because, when he was found with a prostitute in his own car in the
city of Sheffield, it was noted by the arresting police officer that the
car bore false registration plates.
All this is common knowledge. Much disquiet was aroused in the
United Kingdom by the fact that 51
/2years' investigation had failed to
trap the "Ripper", whereas two ordinary and alert police officers had
noticed
that
Sutcliffe's car bore a false registration and they arrested
him solely because of this reason. Thus, it was said, high level
detective expertise, scientific expertise and medical expertise had
failed and the final apprehension of the killer had depended simply
upon the keen observational power of the ordinary police officer.
The actual process of the arrest involved a police officer using his
pocket
UHF
radio set to check, through his control radio station, the
registration number found on the car. His query, received by the
police control, was then processed through the British Police
National Computer, which was able to inform him within a very
shorttime
that
the registration plates did not belong to the car which
bore them. Thus, Sutcliffe was arrested and after subsequent
developments had focused suspicion upon him, he confessed to his
crimes. We must all be glad for the observational powers of the police
officers involved, and certainly the British Press gave them full credit
for the arrest -
"The
most famous policemen in the world" was how
*Currently the author is President of the International Association of
Forensic
Sciences
and Visiting Professor of Forensic
Science
in the
University
of
Strathc1yde.
October /984 39/
To continue reading
Request your trial