Is Lácacséke the Hungarian Chicago? The Responsibility of Media for Presentation and Interpretation of Criminal Statistics

Case Study from the Point of View of a Probation Officer

Abstract

In 2019, on the basis of the criminal statistics data made public at that time, several media released the number of criminal offences committed at specific settlements in 2018.
That is how Lácacséke, which was labelled by several papers as the ‘Hungarian Chicago’, appeared on the horizon of the tabloid press and the media. It is true that the number of criminal offences was high, but the 36 offences of a single series of criminal offences affected the criminal statistics in such an unfavourable way, and the already disadvantaged municipality was discredited even more in the press. What is the responsibility of the media when disclosing specific statistical data? How is criminal statistics to be interpreted properly? That is what this study is trying to find the answer for.