The paper considers the identification o f threats o f terrorist nature by the police, with the emphasis
on the potential o f open-source intelligence in the area. Open-source intelligence is a tool that
makes it possible to obtain and analyse correctly information from open sources, and primarily
to acquire objective and reliable conclusions. Setting the research in the context o f the national
system o f identifying, countering, and reacting to crime o f terrorist nature, the author makes an
attempt to answer the question how information obtained from open sources can contribute to
developing knowledge o f such threats. Moreover, the work contains an analysis o f the vertical and
horizontal information flow in the police, and accounts for the significance o f information from
open sources. A study o f police regulations and other acts o f law, referring to the position and
tasks o f the police in the system for countering and fighting terrorist threats, a review o f Polish
and foreign literature, and own observations from police practice provide convenient complementation
o f legal information. The author emphasises his observations on the so-called “culture
o f secrecy” predominant in the circulation o f information in police and special forces today and suggests an alternative solution, namely “share information” (kultura wymiany informacji).
Presentation o f the problem aims primarily at portraying both opportunities (new solutions) and
limitations in the use o f open source intelligence in police practice o f identifying terrorist threats
