Police Stops in Hungary: In the Light of Public Debates and Media Coverage

Hungarian policing is based on the continental approach, and it can be considered to be administrative activity. However, it is an important part of the administrative system. Within this, police stops have a limited profile in Hungarian public discourse, though it became more important during crises of the Hungarian political system, especially during mass demonstrations and movements, such as those in 2006 and the demonstrations against government measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. A constant element of the debate on police stops has been racial profiling, especially the racial profiling of the Roma minorities in Hungary. We examined both the scientific and civil discourse and important cases. The results show that law enforcement practices have long been criticized in civil and academic discourse, while the government and police side of the debate is characterized mainly by silence.