Aim: A look back at the successful history of scientific research in the field of home affairs prior to the establishment of law enforcement science, namely the theoretical and applied research carried out at the Law Enforcement Research Institute, established in 1991 at the Ministry of the Interior.
Methodology: Review of the research carried out at the Institute during the existence of the Law Enforcement Research Institute, as well as the presentation to what extent the results of these research contributed to the later acceptance and accreditation of law enforcement science.
Findings: The activities of the Law Enforcement Research Institute of the Ministry of the Interior, and later of the Police College’s Institute for Leadership Training and Research between 1991 and 1998, are worth remembering as an important legacy of the research institute’s past. It can be stated that without the research carried out at the Law Enforcement Research Institute at that time, the academic recognition of law enforcement science could not have taken place, which laid the foundation for the establishment of the Doctoral School of Law Enforcement.
Value: We consider it a value that scientific research and leadership training took place in the above-mentioned research institute for several years, as a result of which the latest domestic and international results of law enforcement theory were always present in the training, and researchers could learn about the state of practice in leadership courses, they could check the reception of their work in the law enforcement services and also learn from the criticisms. Several aspirations that were first articulated during the regime change have become a reality. For example, the elevation of higher law enforcement education to university level, the establishment of master’s degrees, the strengthening of the acceptance of law enforcement science, the increasing exploration of sources of law enforcement history, and the appearance of all these results in the operation of the Hungarian Law Enforcement Society.