Why a mid-19th century crime wave became a national hysteria
In short: While crime rates in 1860s London were actually falling, the public lived in a state of near-constant terror. This video explores how the media transformed a few isolated incidents into a pervasive cultural panic.
Despite the establishment of the London Metropolitan Police Force in 1839 leading to a general decline in crime, the Victorian public remained gripped by a specific fear: garrotting. This method of robbery involved strangling victims with wire, cloth, or an arm.
The panic reached a fever pitch during the 1860s. The video examines how the news media exploited these rare instances of murder and robbery to fuel a persistent, recurring public anxiety that felt far more dangerous than the actual statistics suggested.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: The London Garrotting Panic
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