The summer complaints appear in more and more groups in the social media, according to which not only the beach time, ice creams and great programs arrived in Debrecen in a good time, but the number of homeless people and drug addicts in the parks and public areas also jumped. From Petőfi, Dósa palatine, Kossuth Square to the most beautiful pedestrian zone of the Great Forest, you will meet people who have lost consciousness, the homeless under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

They are trying to keep order

The biggest concern for many is that you can’t sit on benches, don’t feel safe walking down the street, lingering in playgrounds, not to mention that the aforementioned problems are individuals emptying corners of houses, throwing trash cans and so on. Of course, this is a multifaceted, wide-ranging problem, from social support to respect for an individual’s right to freedom, so the solution is not easy to find. However, it is beyond discussion:

it is sad to see how the image of a rapidly developing city, which attracts more and more tourists, foreign companies and exchange students, spoils the said problem.

– The Local Government of the City of Debrecen considers the maintenance of the living environment to be an important task, it beautifies all parts of the settlement of Cívisváros on schedule and continuously, so that the citizens can spend their everyday lives in an orderly, clean and demanding environment. Nevertheless, unfortunately, there are people who do not pay attention to public space values, occasionally damaging street furniture. It has been a recurring problem for years that people (including the homeless and drug addicts) live in public places and benches, disturbing those in the city. In some cases, they also cause a great deal of financial damage, and their objectionable behavior disturbs the peace of the citizens who live there, the local government wrote in response to our request.

As soon as the Debrecen Public Area Inspectorate and the continuous police check out the preservation of the cleanliness and order of the county seat, they check the places with higher traffic. The goal of the city leader is to ensure cultured recreation in the entire area of ​​Debrecen. To this end, the presence of police and public area supervisors during special periods and events attracting large crowds in all cases, thus ensuring an increase in the subjective sense of security of citizens.

The task of public space supervision

1/2021 of the General Assembly of the local government – on keeping the public areas clean and protecting the green areas. (I. 18.) – its decree contains the prohibition to lie on the bench: according to § 9 (1) f) it is forbidden […] misuse of public furniture (especially, but not exclusively, lying on it, standing up to it, or contaminating it in any way).

It was emphasized that the task of the public space inspectorate is, among other things, to check the lawful use of public spaces and the regularity of the activities subject to a permit on them; prevention, interruption, termination and sanctioning of activities prohibited by law on the order and cleanliness of public space; contributing to the protection of public space, the built and natural environment, the implementation of social crime prevention tasks, public security, public order, the protection of municipal property and the monitoring of the implementation of legislation on public cleanliness.

Up to fifty thousand forints on the spot

Gyula Tő, the head of the official department of the Debrecen Public Area Inspectorate may be subject to an on-the-spot fine against the offender. The amount can range from 5 thousand forints to 50 thousand forints.

They can file a report

If the conditions for imposing a fine on the spot are not met, an infringement report will be made to the competent infringement authority. (For example, the perpetrator of the offense does not have identity documents on the spot, or the person subject to the proceedings does not acknowledge the offense or refuses to sign the form for imposing a fine on the spot.)

– The on-the-spot fine imposed can also be exchanged for work in the public interest. In such a case, the person who has been fined on the spot may apply to the competent public employment body on the spot to redeem the fine on the spot after the imposition of public work38. – if the imposed on-the-spot fine was not redeemed by community service or the available was not paid, enforcement proceedings should be initiated at the police station responsible for the offender’s place of residence for a specified period. Following the commencement of the proceedings, the police refer the matter to the court, as the court has the power to convert the unpaid on-site fine to the closure of the violation. In this case, the unpaid fine can be changed to one day’s foreclosure for HUF 5,000.

They also “move in” to the accommodation from the countryside

In reader phone calls and complainant comments, we have repeatedly said that homeless people do not go to free accommodation because they are bound by rules to stay there. Zsolt Szemerédy, the managing director of ReFoMix, confirmed that the accommodation they provide should be kept to a minimum, but there are those who do not succeed. “They don’t want to follow the policy either, because they can’t come in, fight, drink or do drugs in the alcoholic state, so they don’t even come to us,” he said. to that place.

Special institutions, free kitchens are waiting for the homeless, please do not feed them

He pointed out. The managing director also pointed out that 30-40 percent of the residents of the accommodation establishments come from other rural settlements, because there are no homeless hostels outside Debrecen, which is also a great burden.

PSZ