Sources of information in criminal intelligence

Abstract

Information gathering represents a primary phase in criminal intelligence activities and its success relies on the ability to collect and use the information. In accordance with that, all legitimate and available tools and methods should be applied for that purpose. However, by analyzing practical activity, it is observed that available sources of information are not sufficiently used as well as that some sources are favored while other ones are unreasonably underestimated and, furthermore, that standards are not followed in terms of justification, proportionality and necessity of using resources in the process of information gathering. The conducted research aimed to determine what the attitudes of police officers are in terms of the importance of individual sources of information, their usage in everyday work and level of training for the use of information sources. In order to obtain attitudes and opinions of respondents, questionnaires were created. The survey was conducted with a sample of 250 respondents, using statistical methods and a comparison method. By analyzing the respondents' attitudes, a widespread belief that intelligence is equal to information obtained from closed sources of information is confirmed and, consequently, that open sources of information are neglected. This may partly be associated with the lack of appropriate level of training for the use of certain sources of information. On the basis of the results obtained, the need for training, in education, on the use of all sources of information and the creation of plans for information gathering are evident, in order to use all sources of information in an appropriate way.