Did you or a loved one become a crime victim because a property owner failed to keep their premises safe and secure? You may be wondering about your legal rights:
Our crime victim lawyers can help you find the accountability and financial support you deserve.
America’s legal system has a long and powerful history of holding property owners partially responsible for crimes committed on their watch. Likewise, negligent security lawsuits provide the victims of crime, who are too often abandoned by the criminal justice system, with a vital source for financial compensation.
Court-ordered restitution and state-operated crime victim compensation funds often fall short, providing victims with compensation only for a fraction of their actual losses. Civil lawsuits, on the other hand, allow victims and their loved ones to pursue a wide range of damages, paving a clearer path toward recovery.
Negligent security lawsuits are largely distinct from criminal proceedings. Whereas the criminal justice system attempts to punish offenders for harming society, civil lawsuits are filed with a very different goal: to hold offenders or negligent third parties accountable for the personal damages that crime has brought upon a victim and their family.
In theory, any sort of crime could give rise to a viable negligent security lawsuit so long as the victim suffered some form of damage due to a property owner’s failure to provide adequate protection. In practice, the vast majority of successful crime lawsuits filed in civil court involve violent crimes, offenses that cause physical injury and emotional trauma or in which physical force is threatened:
Claims over negligent security fall into the larger category of premises liability lawsuits, which seek to hold property owners accountable for injuries sustained on their real estate. Specifically, negligent security lawsuits attempt to uphold the legal and ethical obligations by which all property owners are bound: to offer lawful guests reasonable and adequate security protections against foreseeable crimes committed by third parties. Wrapped up in that short definition are several key concepts critical to any successful negligent security claim that we’ll cover in more detail next.
Most property owners, both residential and commercial, have a minimal duty to provide guests with adequate security:
Establishing that a duty to protect visitors exists is the first step in any negligent security case.
In many lawsuits, establishing the lack of reasonable security measures can be straightforward. For instance, a convenience store owner, by default, has an obvious responsibility to provide adequate security measures to protect customers from criminal activities. While the extent of protection required might vary, the fundamental obligation to provide security and prevent negligent or inadequate security incidents is evident.
Similarly, educational institutions such as elementary schools, colleges, and universities must ensure appropriate security measures are in place to safeguard students from harm. This often involves employing trained security personnel who can respond to potential threats efficiently. Malls and shopping centers are typically required to hire state-licensed security guards as part of maintaining reasonable security standards.
Parking lot owners are often held liable for negligent security if they fail to install and maintain necessary security features, such as adequate lighting. This denies potential criminals the concealment provided by darkness, significantly reducing the risk of security incidents.
Victims of a crime resulting from negligent security can consult a personal injury lawyer to explore filing a personal injury claim or even a type of premises liability lawsuit. The statute of limitations may restrict the time frame within which a claim can be filed, so it's essential to act promptly.
A negligent security lawyer can help determine if you are able to sue the owner of the property, the security firm, or even a government entity depending on who failed to maintain reasonable security. Cases of negligent security can include various defendants, such as the property management company or the security contractor whose negligence led to harm.
Negligent security FAQs often address general examples of negligent security, such as the absence of security personnel in necessary areas or failing to provide security measures that meet the legal standards of protection expected. In cases where a security company is hired and fails, that company may be liable for resulting damages.
If you have suffered injuries in a negligent security incident, you may be able to bring a negligent security case. This could potentially allow you to recover compensation for damages caused by the security company’s negligence or the negligent property owner. Remember, these security cases can be challenging, so partnering with a skilled attorney is crucial to navigate the complex elements of negligence and to achieve a just outcome.
In principle, any commercial or residential property owner (along with security companies hired to enhance a property’s safety) can be held accountable for allowing a criminal offender to harm others. The practice of negligent security law, however, usually revolves around a set of locations where violent crimes tend to occur.
According to recent results from the National Crime Victimization Survey, more than 5.5 million Americans become victims of violent crime every year. Nearly 34% of these crimes took place in or near the victim’s home. A further 18% occurred in the open, on public streets, or in public transportation systems.
Note that these statistics do not include homicides, the quintessential form of “violent crime.” To produce their study, researchers at the Bureau of Justice Statistics focused instead on rape, sexual assault, and robbery, along with aggravated and simple assaults.
In some states, a property owner’s duty will also depend on the legal status of the visitor who was injured.
The majority of states have moved away from this strict delineation between visitors, offering all types of guests, even trespassers, at least limited rights when they are injured on someone else’s property.
After it’s determined that a duty existed between a property owner and visitor, negligent security lawsuits turn to the question of how much security should have been provided. Property owners aren’t required to keep everyone safe at all times; that would be impossible. Nor are high-crime areas considered equivalent to places with lower crime rates.
When property owners are bound to provide “reasonable” protections, what should be considered “reasonable” will change from case to case. In other words, property owners can only be held accountable for allowing foreseeable crimes to occur, ones they knew or should have known were likely to happen.
In determining whether or not a crime was reasonably foreseeable, most states focus on the property’s prior history of similar crimes, a history that most judges expect property owners to know about, either through personal experience or research.
Police reports can be considered, too, which may show that emergency personnel have responded to similar criminal activity at this location in the past. Time is also a factor. A spate of violent crimes forty years ago probably wouldn’t make a violent crime in the present foreseeable.
The specific type of crime is important here. If a history of recent sexual assaults has been reported in a parking lot, it’s likely that the next assault that takes place there would be considered foreseeable. A non-violent crime, on the other hand, probably wouldn’t be considered foreseeable.
No matter the specific circumstances, these considerations of prior criminal history and location will eventually lead to a picture of what sorts of security measures should have been used on the property. Experienced premises liability attorneys often rely on independent security experts to figure out which protocols the property owner could have implemented to reduce the likelihood of the crime.
These experts also become helpful in fulfilling the next task of any negligent security lawsuits, which is to demonstrate that the property owner failed to meet these reasonable expectations.
Examples of negligent security practices are numerous and, as we’ve already mentioned, will ultimately come down to the specifics operative in each case. That being said, here are a few examples of common security breakdowns that can lead to violent crime and severe injuries, as well as viable civil lawsuits:
Your attorney’s work, however, isn’t done after the property owner’s negligence has been demonstrated. Victims of crime also have to prove that the crime occurred, at least in part, because of the property owner’s failure – that adequate security measures would have prevented the crime or reduced its likelihood dramatically.
The final step is to show how the crime affected you or your loved one. How were you injured by the assault, rape, stabbing or robbery? There are numerous possible answers to this question, but the answers that will become relevant in a civil lawsuit usually fall into one of three categories:
How much any single case will be “worth” is highly dependent on the actual financial losses suffered by crime victims and/or their families.
Wrongful death lawsuits, which surviving family members frequently file after a fatal stabbing or shooting, entail a different set of possible damages. Many of these claims demand compensation for funeral and burial expenses, along with medical services that were required before a loved one’s death. They also include losses that are harder to define but no less important. Loss of financial support and household services is just one example.
We understand that pursuing justice after a crime doesn’t have to be expensive. Our firm is backed by a national alliance of attorneys who have substantial experience in helping victims recover compensation in court. Especially in cases where property owners fail to provide adequate security, our lawyers are prepared to hold them liable.
Our legal services are offered on a contingency-fee basis, meaning you pay us nothing until we recover damages in your claim. This approach ensures that every victim may have the opportunity to pursue justice without the burden of upfront costs.
Learning more about your legal options, including what constitutes reasonable security and how you can be held liable for failing to provide it, comes at no charge. We encourage victims to call us today to receive a free consultation. Our experienced attorneys are ready to help you understand your rights and how you can recover compensation for the negligence encountered.
