Snippets From the Operation of Shopkeepers in the Rural Towns of Former Hungary

Abstract

Introduction: The reader will gain an insight into the activities of private or municipally organised and maintained shopkeepers linked to their property protection activities. It gives a snapshot of the daily life of one of the specialised, contemporary agencies of the time, which is responsible for creating security as our common mission.

Methods: The aim of the study is to examine the little known history and operation of the shopkeeping in the rural towns of Hungary until the second quarter of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Results: The authors of the study, as practising law enforcement experts, analyse studies, archival and contemporary press sources on the operation of the shop guards of some Hungarian towns, providing an insight into the now forgotten operation of the property and law enforcement organisations of turn-of-the-century Hungary.

Conclusion: The authors of the paper wish to contribute to a comprehensive scientific research on private security, recognizing that the topic under study is a topical issue in the ongoing operation of the police, as the past decades have brought about a number of unprecedented situations in the operation of the police. The quantitative and qualitative transformation of tasks and expectations also calls for a reassessment of the relationship between state and non-state actors in the creation and maintenance of security. This study will help to explore this activity.