Crimes in Budapest down by nearly 10 pct in 2018

Budapest, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The number of reported crimes in Budapest dropped by 9.8 percent in 2018 to 56,739 from 62,870 in 2017, according to an annual report submitted to The Budapest City Council here on Wednesday.

The council approved The report submitted by The Budapest Police headquarters by a unanimous vote.

"The number of crimes committed in Budapest in 2018 was The lowest in The past nine years," Budapest Police Chief Tamas Terdik commented on The data.

He added that this year's main task was to reduce The supply side of The drug trade in The police's fight against drugs by arresting more drug dealers.

In addition, more pedestrian patrols will be put on The streets in 2019, as a "visible police" can be a deterrent to public offenses, according to him.

Terdik also spoke about accident prevention as an area needed to be furTher developed, as The number of accidents involving injuries has not decreased in The past nine years.

He also reported that The average response time of The police was of 12 minutes on average in 2018.