Hungary’s Police Department released 2016 stats

Budapest, February 1 (MTI) – Hungary’s police force achieved its primary goal of guaranteeing an adequate level of public safety last year, police chief Károly Papp said on Wednesday.

The biggest challenge police faced in 2016 was dealing with illegal migration and the threat of terrorism, Papp told a press conference.

He said police had registered a total of 278,263 crimes last year. This is a 4 percentage-point increase on 2015, which was caused by two cases specifically whose investigations had started the year before, but were only closed in 2016, Papp said.

A total of 19.1 percent of crimes (53,214) were committed in public areas last year, down by 1.6 percent compared with 2015.

Police registered 219 homicide cases, 15 more than in 2015. Over the last six years, the homicide rate has been constantly decreasing, Papp said, adding that more than 90 percent of murder cases get solved.

The number of burglaries and robberies dropped to 92,072 from 111,326 last year, he noted.

The number of drug-related offences rose from 440 to 462.