Negligent Security
Business owners and property managers are responsible for ensuring the security of customers and tenants who visit or reside on their property. When business and property owners fail to uphold this responsibility, it may give rise to a premises liability claim. Owners of businesses, such as hotels and motels, parking garages, retail stores, restaurants, bars, schools, offices, and apartment buildings, may be held liable for ensuring the safety of customers and tenants on their property. This includes implementing adequate security measures to protect against violent crimes being committed by third parties.
A premises liability case may arise when someone is injured because a property owner or manager failed to hire competent security personnel, install adequate lighting, or maintain locks on gates, windows, and doors in working order. Moreover, failure to promptly address other known security issues, such as suspicious persons loitering on the property, may also give rise to a premises liability claim if a customer or guest is attacked while on the premises. If you were injured because of a property owner's negligent failure to take adequate security measures, you may have a valid legal claim against the property owner.
As a general rule, property owners are not responsible for random acts of violence or unforeseeable criminal activity committed on their property by non-employees. However, liability may arise when such criminal conduct is the foreseeable result of the property owner's negligence. Some common criminal offenses committed by third parties that often give rise to premises liability claims include:
- Assault
- Battery
- Kidnapping
- Murder
- Rape
- Robbery
- Sexual Assault
If a business or apartment complex is located in an area that is known to have a high crime rate, the property owner may be deemed negligent if he or she failed to hire security personnel or install an adequate security system. If the crime committed was a foreseeable consequence of the property owner's negligence, you may have a valid premises liability claim. In determining whether a criminal act was foreseeable, a jury typically considers whether the crime could have been anticipated by a reasonable person under the same or similar circumstances. The jury may find that the property owner should reasonably have anticipated a particular criminal act if one or more of the following is true:
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The property owner was aware of a specific risk of a crime being committed by a known perpetrator.
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Evidence of a high incidence of violent crimes on or near the premises was available to the property owner.
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The security measures implemented were clearly inadequate, balancing the cost and availability of improved security measures against the likelihood that a crime would be committed on the premises.
The skilled premises liability lawyers at the Law Offices of Joseph H. Graves, P.A. provide aggressive representation to customers or tenants who were victims of criminal assault at a place of business or at an apartment complex. Typical damages in premises liability cases often include medical bills, lost wages or diminished earning capacity as a result of the injury, physical pain, and emotional trauma.
