QUOTE (Strafin @ Aug 21 2009, 04:30 PM)
So we'd be better off cancelling funding for ANPR, cameras, telephone lines and computers and just have them sit at the side of road stopping people in case they admit to a murder?? Peter Sutcliffe was caught in a random stop, but how many cars are stopped that throw up nothing for each criminal caught, I'm willing to bet hundreds. Also if the police were doing their job effectivley, he would have been locked up and not driving round killing prostitutes.
The circumstances of Peter Sutcliffe's arrest are not quite as you say - he was engaging in sexual activity with a known prostitute in Sheffield, his car was parked nearby. The vehicle was checked by two 'beat bobbies' on routine patrol and was found to be carrying false plates. Sutcliffe was spoken to and arrested for that offence. Before his arrest he was allowed to have a 'comfort break' behind a wall. The day after his arrest a knife, hammer and rope was found when the area was subject to a police search. He had discarded these during his 'comfort break'. He admitted to being the ripper shortly after.
I grant you that there were many problems with the investigation and that this caused delays, but you must remember that this case was prior to routine, cross border police co-operation in such cases. Indeed this case was the catalyst for such systems being put in place. This case was run on a card system (if you saw this system now you would not believe that anyone was ever caught for anything!!!)
So the police at the time were doing their job as effectively as posible given the 'technology' at hand, you cannot compare modern policing and investigative techniques to those of the late 70's early 80's.