ABSTRACT
The expression ‘police officer’ (‘rendőr’ in Hungarian) first appeared in written language in the 1820s and in legislation in 1846. The history of the independent national police force goes back approximately 150 years. Politically, these were unsettled times that hindered the undisturbed development of law enforcement organizations (Cartedge 2011). These transformations resulted in the leadership of the police force being replaced, and significant numbers of well-trained and professional staff dismissed. Politicians at national and local level habitually interfered with purely professional issues, eventually usurping decision-making. Sometimes law enforcement organizations were used to suppress citizens on racial and religious grounds, to subdue social and ethnic movements, and the deportation of more than 600,000 Jewish people (Deak 2001).
