Negligent Security
When property owners (public and private), their property managers, or their security contractors fail to take reasonable security and safety precautions, serious personal injuries can happen. This is referred to as negligent security.
What Is Negligent Security?
Under the law, property owners and managers have a legal duty to provide reasonable security. This includes taking affirmative actions to protect the safety of residents/patrons. Such actions include hiring security contractors and ensuring those contractors have adequate budget for staffing and preventative security measures (i.e., radios, cameras). Security contractors, in turn, must do their contractual duty and inspect the premises for any hazards (i.e., areas with poor lighting or where trespassers congregate) and otherwise respond to calls before an incident can escalate, or even happen in the first place.
When these persons/entities fail to abide by their legal and contractual obligations to ensure your security and bodily safety, they can be held liable for personal injuries you suffer as a result.
Common examples of negligent security in cases we represent include:
- Failing to ensure doors and windows (or other means of ingress or egress) are secure and locked properly;
- Failing to provide adequate fencing;
- Failing to provide adequate security staffing;
- Failing to react to environmental problems on the premises (i.e., drugs taking/sales, prostitution, firearms);
- Failure to timely respond to fights or other calls;
- Failing to provide proper lighting in hallways, stairwells, and in outdoor areas;
- Failing to address foreseeable criminal behavior on the property or warn residents and visitors;
- Failing to install security systems (i.e., surveillance cameras) or have security guards patrol the premises;
- Failing to screen guests at public events.
Victims in Negligent Security Cases
Failure to secure a premises can lead to devastating results, including assaults and batteries that are horrifying and traumatic, many of which result in serious or permanent injury, or death. Women and children are also particularly susceptible to being the victim of a sex-based crime or a sexual predator if adequate security measures and staffing are not put in place. Even if an assault or battery is committed by a third person or a criminal assailant (i.e., a trespasser who hopped the wall to get in the premises and commit a crime), the landlord/manager/security company can still be held liable if such acts were foreseeable due to repeat similar issues in the past or just the seedy and violent nature of the premises as a whole.
Get The Compensation You Deserve In A Negligent Security Claim
Negligent security causes serious injuries. A landlord or person in control of the premises (i.e., an event promoter) cannot have a “slumlord mentality” and value money over tenant or patron safety by cutting costs or having little to no security staffing. Such practices may also subject the wrongdoer to punitive damages to punish and ensure no one else gets similarly attacked again.
At Real Injury Attorney, Daniel M. Ryan will provide you the trusted legal guidance you need throughout the process. He has recovered millions for victims in negligent security cases, including women and children who have been sexually assaulted by trespassers and other residents who were the victim of a serious violent crime (i.e., shooting, stabbing). He can assist you in filing a claim against the property owner’s insurer, negotiating with insurance representatives on your behalf to get the best possible settlement. If insurance fails to cover your case, he can represent you in filing a negligent security lawsuit and trial.
Call today from a free consultation. There is no fee until we win.
