Attention! These districts have the highest number of burglaries in Budapest

Hereby, you can find out which are the most popular regions for burglars in Budapest, as well as their most frequently used methods. And, most importantly, what property owners can do to avoid significant financial losses.

According to PRE-STAT data, the 14th district of Budapest is at the top of the burglary list, followed by the 3rd district and the 9th district. Accordingly, in 2020

the highest number of such crimes occurred in Zugló, numerically 113 cases, followed by Óbuda with 101 cases and the third-ranked Ferencváros with 99 burglaries.

the highest number of such crimes were experienced in Zugló, numerically 113 cases, followed by Óbuda with 101 cases and the third ranked Ferencváros with 99 burglaries.

On the Pest side, burglars also targeted a high number of properties in the 18th (Pestszentlőrinc-Pestszentimre) and 19th (Kispest) districts. However, the continuously developing Újbuda (11th district) also experienced a significant number of cases, nearly 100 in 2020. The latter is also a prominent target for criminals who do not break into private homes.

The list also depicts that the safest zone of Budapest is the Buda Castle district, where only 12 burglaries were registered in the examined year. This is followed by the 23rd district (Soroksár), 15th district (Rákospalota), 21. district (Csepel) with less than 40 cases registered in 2020.

As the Hungarian news portal Pénzcentrum reports, the number of burglaries in Budapest has decreased significantly compared to the previous years. Overall, in 2020, 1,846 burglaries and 1,274 home burglaries were recorded in the Hungarian capital, which is significantly less than in the previous years. One of the reasons for the drop is the pandemic. However, the number of cases has been decreasing since 2013.

According to a survey that was carried out by questioning Hungarian burglars,

the main targets of criminals in the Hungarian capital are detached houses, condominiums, flats in panel houses and terraced houses.

The most common methods to enter homes are damaging windows and doors by breaking, boarding up or pushing them in.

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Perpetrators mainly look for cash in the properties, but they are also interested in high-value electronic devices (TVs, laptops, cell phones, etc.), jewels, branded watches or quality clothing. In some cases, burglars even take garden machines, smaller technical items, or instruments as well.

According to security experts, the installation of property security equipment, alarms or cameras is of primary importance. In addition, it is also crucial to let the outside world know about it as a deterrent. In the case of an installed alarm, it is also necessary to get connected to the police.

What is even more important is that residents keep their doors closed. Otherwise, they can become targets of such criminals as the two young men who snuck in through a door left open on the night of 3 May 2022 in Budapest’s 9th district. As they were unsuccessful in the first flat they targeted as the foreign tenant chased them away, they made another try in the neighbouring apartment. The foreign woman living there distracted the uninvited visitors who first left the apartment but then slammed the door and demanded cash, shouting the words “money, money”. The terrified woman ran away. The perpetrators collected her laptop, tablet and phone, worth a total of about one million forints (~EUR 2,568). The owner went after them and managed to take back the tenant’s laptop. He was also hit by the younger criminal. The woman asked the neighbours for help, alerting the Ferencváros Police Station which captured the fleeing perpetrators near the scene – reported Police.hu.

The 23 and 15-year-old perpetrators were soon arrested. They were interrogated and detained for a well-founded suspicion of attempted robbery and theft, and the court has since ordered their arrest.

Read alsoHere is the crime map of Hungary – places you should and should not travel

Source: penzcentrum.hu, police.hu