Police numbers falling in Budapest: here are the numbers
Recent claims in Hungarian public discourse suggest that police numbers in Budapest have plummeted dramatically, with some sources stating that 10,000 officers have disappeared from the capital’s streets since 2019. However, a closer look at the data reveals that such figures are significantly exaggerated.
The claim, widely circulated by opposition politicians and shared across social media, is based on a misinterpretation of police deployment data from the official police website, Lakmusz reports. Specifically, critics point to the number of “officers deployed to maintain public order,” which dropped from nearly 11,000 in 2019 to around 4,800 in 2023. But this figure does not represent the number of individual police officers.
In reality, the Budapest Police Headquarters (BRFK) has never had 10,000 officers—not even over the past 15 years, the Hungarian news portal writes. The often-quoted numbers refer to the total number of service deployments, meaning that a single officer performing multiple duties or working several shifts can be counted more than once. Therefore, the figure reflects the volume of duties performed, not unique personnel.
The actual number of police officers working under the BRFK has been gradually declining. According to official data, BRFK had about 6,000 officers in 2012, decreasing to around 5,000 by 2024. This is a significant reduction in a city of nearly 1.7 million residents, not including daily commuters and tourists.
This discrepancy shows that there is a broader issue in how law enforcement statistics are communicated and interpreted in Hungary. Due to limited public access to detailed police staffing data—especially for recent years—it is difficult for journalists, analysts, and citizens to gain a clear picture of changes in public safety resources.
Moreover, some critics argue that government communication focuses more on showcasing order and security rather than addressing the causes and consequences of decreasing police presence.
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