Police chief: 2015 public safety level high despite migrant pressure

Budapest, January 27 (MTI) – Hungary’s public safety level remained high throughout 2015 despite an unprecedented migration pressure, police chief Karoly Papp told a press conference on Wednesday.

The biggest challenge police faced in 2015 was dealing with the migrant crisis, Papp said, adding that police were successful in managing the situation. Papp pointed out that a September survey by the Nezopont Institute indicated that 78 percent of Hungarians were satisfied with the police’s management of the crisis.

Papp said police registered a total of 267,628 crimes in 2015, down by 13.5 percent from the previous year. The rate of solved criminal cases came to 54.8 percent, up from 51.4 percent in 2014. Most crimes were committed in the capital, he added.

The number of murders, assaults, thefts, car thefts, burglaries and robberies was down from the previous year while the number of human smuggling cases increased.

Police registered a total of 55,285 crimes committed in public areas, down by 13.5 percent from 2014. Fully 20.7 percent of the total number of crimes were committed in public areas. Police completed 18,688,000 hours on patrol duty in public areas last year, Papp said.