EN
In the source literature the concept of safety is variably defined, depending on the sphere and discipline of research science (sociology, economy, political sciences, security). The definitions of security most often stress the lack of threats, certainty and creating conditions for development, and the sense of security is viewed as a set of convictions, belief in possibility to obtain desired results. Sense of security is shaped i.a. under the influence of access to information and psychological factors that decide how a specific situation is perceived. In the analysis concerning the sense of security among the citizens of municipalities, references were made to the characteristics of local communities available in the source literature: shared territory, relations, common social interest, local sentiment and institutions called up to cater to the needs of citizens. Local institutions are responsible for shaping the following conditions: material well being, spiritual development, security and future perspectives, they cooperate in specific scope with state institutions, including the military units. These units act to ensure state security for the society in general and their location within given municipalities also strengthens local economic potential. The military units carry out defence and protective tasks, also engaging in relations with local entities in order to achieve this goal. Perception of the Army among the society, including its influence on the state security, is a subject of analyses conducted by various scientific institutions and research facilities, which includes the academy represented by the authors of the article. The issues presented in the paper are a continuation of the studies dealing with influence of the military units on local development in different aspects. Therefore the goal of the studies was formulated as follows: identifying influence of the military units on the sense of security among the citizens, specifying the concerns associated with presence of the military units within the municipalities and the assessment of the Army actions in a threat situation as well as assessment of the military units potential in the context of benefits resulting from presence within a municipality. In addition to other methods (analysis, synthesis) applied during the studies, the significant role was performed by the diagnostic poll method ñ CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interview). The studies aimed at collecting opinions of the citizens were carried out in November 2017 in urban municipalities: Braniewo, Brzeg, Chelmno, Hrubieszow, Slupsk and encompassed 600 participants selected proportionally to the total number of citizens in given municipalities. The respondents formulated opinions on the chosen aspects of security associated with presence of a military unit within their municipality. Moreover, the article refers to the results of the studies carried out by other authors and study results announced by the Public Opinion Research Center. The analysis was carried out with the use of computer programmes Excel and Statistica v. 13.1.