The achievement of the balance between law enforcement procedures and personal liberty when guaranteeing security is a social and legal priority. The problem is that people can inadequately assess the area of their personal liberty, as well as police officers and other representatives of law enforcement agencies can sometimes violate people’s freedoms for the purpose of security. Although one can say that personal liberty outweighs reasons behind law enforcement procedures, there are situations when the focus is not on individuals’ liberty but on the public’s welfare, and the balance should be achieved.
In most cases, personal liberty outweighs the focus on effective law enforcement strategies. Therefore, unreasonable seizures and searches are prohibited and discussed as the violation of citizens’ rights. However, there are also situations, which include the threats of terrorist attacks and mass shootings, for example, when police officers can limit personal freedoms and affect privacy. In these situations, the prevention of a crime is the reason for such actions because the public’s interest is a priority in this case. These situations demonstrate that, in spite of supporting personal liberties, individuals’ freedoms can be violated when public interests are in question.
From this perspective, the interests of a wide group of people or a community can be prioritized in contrast to individuals’ interests and rights when it is necessary to prevent severe crimes. It is possible to state that the lives of others can be viewed as more important than the liberty of an individual. This controversial aspect should be addressed with the help of revising the approach to balancing anti-terrorism and other programs and laws with the necessity of satisfying the rights and interests of individuals.