As in previous years, the head of the city’s police department also reported this year on how Debrecen’s public safety developed in 2023. The summary showed, among other things, how crimes developed in 2023 compared to 2022; the number of thefts, robberies, murders; what were the main causes of traffic accidents, as well as online fraud and the work of the police, the representatives were able to find out at Thursday’s general assembly.
Source: Annamarie Kiss
Debrecen’s public safety is of great importance to the city
In connection with the police report, Mayor László Papp (Fidesz-KDNP) emphasized that public safety is of paramount importance to the city. The data in the report show that the indicators have deteriorated, but it also appears that the effectiveness of police work has not changed.
Debrecen is still among the safest cities in the country. The deteriorating data is similar to the national data. Over many years, we have achieved better and better results in the field of public safety, but it must also be seen that this trend cannot be maintained forever, there is always a reversal. The question is to what extent the latter will be and how tendentious it will be
the city manager pointed out. He said that the upward trend can be seen from 2022 to 2023, but for example, in 2016, the number of crimes committed in public areas was 1,057, and last year it was 763. The number of priority crimes was 2,716 in 2016, 1,940 in 2017, while 1321 in 2022 and 1465 in 2023.
– The main question is how we can help the work of the police, so that crimes go down again. Hundreds of surveillance cameras monitor the public areas of Debrecen, the staff of the public area supervision and the volunteers of the civil guard constantly cooperate with the police, emphasized László Papp. He added that two more traffic boxes will be installed this year, one on Vezér Street.
The number of foreign criminals has decreased
Attila Uzonyi, head of the Debrecen Police Department, added to his report, drawing attention to the fact that traffic crimes are also part of the crimes committed in public areas, the latter accounting for approximately one third of the cases. He also emphasized that in order to prevent the ever-increasing crimes committed in the online space, even more attention must be paid to informing the residents. In response to a representative’s question, he said: the number of crimes committed by foreigners decreased by ten percent from 2022 to 2023.
József Gyurosovics, Chief of Police of Hajdú-Bihar county, also emphasized that when evaluating the data, it is worth looking back several years. He said that Debrecen has been at the forefront of the country in the field of public safety for years.
Regarding the possible service of the Chinese police in Hungary, he noted that on the common border with Romania, the Hajdú-Bihar police also provide joint service with the staff of the Romanian border guard, but there are also examples of such cooperation of law enforcement agencies in other countries. Finally, he emphasized, illegal migration should not be confused with guest workers. The latter – in contrast to illegal immigrants – can legally stay in the country for a specified period of time with the permission of the state for the purpose of employment.
The most important data of Debrecen’s public safety in 2023 have been summarized here:
