NCJ Number
144822
Date Published
1993
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This paper traces the history of police research in Hungary from the end of World War II to the early 1990's.
Abstract
Although there was a worldwide scientific-technical revolution after World War II, the Hungarian police received little benefit from it through the 1960's. In 1972, the Science Organization Department was formed in the Ministry of the Interior. The primary task of the Department was to plan, organize, and control scientific research for the police in the Ministry. More than 95 percent of the actual research work was done by volunteer researchers who produced no valid research. When the Ministry of the Interior was reorganized, the Science Organization Department was abolished, and the 20 research jobs were reduced to 10. Two program bureaus were established. One of them supports, coordinates, and manages research for public administration, and the other is for the organs of public order (police, the border guard, the fire brigade, and civil defense). There were fundamental changes in the main directions of the research and in the priorities of the topics. Priority was given to the promotion of police work, the fight against crime, crime prevention, and cost savings. To further improve the effectiveness of the research, the Research Institute of the Public Order was established; together with the Expert and Research Institute of the Ministry of the Interior, it does research in many fields of the criminal sciences. Some significant research accomplished involved the development of an improved border-crossing control system, analysis of the crime geography of Hungary, and development of the typology of criminality in Hungary. Researchers are currently facing the problems of an extraordinary wave of criminality along with problems of technical and methodological backwardness. 4 references