Budapest is the safest European capital

Budapest  is one of the safest European capitals. As the police chief Gabor Tot said, the Hungarian capital still does not represent even the slightest threat to the many tourists, even though the number of crimes committed over the past year has increased by five percent. 

According to Mr. Tot, this year in Budapest the number of armed robberies is expected to increase. Thus, over the passed time of this year 20 crimes have been committed, compared with 8 offenses committed during the same period last year. This is due to the fact that in the conditions of the world crisis and rising unemployment, many are considering robbery as one of the easiest ways to earn money. 

According to official data of the police department of Budapest, the number of crimes over the past year increased by 5% to 104 000 offenses, compared with 99 300 in 2007. At the same time, the number of solved crimes has decreased by 3%. 

In 2008, the number of pickpocketing in the Hungarian capital has increased by 14%, property crimes by 11% and crimes related to drugs by 2%. According to police statistics the number of murders increased from 17 in 2007 to 27 crimes in 2008. However, in 94% of cases the perpetrators were found.

But, crime statistics also include encouraging numbers. So in 2008 the number of bank robberies decreased by 50% and the number of all types of robberies with weapons decreased by 2%.

This year police department in Budapest will receive more than 500 000 euro from the municipal budget to enlarge the staff and improve public safety.