The paper considers the identification of threats of terrorist nature by the police, with the emphasis on the potential of 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 of the national system of identifying, countering, and reacting to crime of terrorist nature, the author makes an attempt to answer the question how information obtained from open sources can contribute to developing knowledge of such threats. Moreover, the work contains an analysis of the vertical and horizontal information flow in the police, and accounts for the significance of information from open sources. A study of police regulations and other acts of law, referring to the position and tasks of the police in the system for countering and fighting terrorist threats, a review of Polish and foreign literature, and own observations from police practice provide convenient complementation of legal information. The author emphasises his observations on the so-called “culture of secrecy” predominant in the circulation of 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 of open source intelligence in police practice o f identifying terrorist threats.