No one should have to fear for their safety while on someone else’s commercial or residential property. But unfortunately, many people are assaulted due to inadequate security at another person’s property. If you’re injured in this type of accident, who is liable for your injuries? Here’s what you need to know about inadequate security and premises liability laws:
What is Premises Liability?
Premises liability laws state that a property owner must maintain safe conditions on his property in order to ensure that visitors are not hurt. If he fails to do so and a visitor is hurt as a result, he can be held liable for the victim’s injuries.
What is Adequate Security?
What is adequate for one property is not necessarily adequate for another, which is why this is determined on a case-by-case basis. In general, property owners can provide security to guests in the form of trained security officers, security cameras, and adequate lighting.
When Do Property Owners Need to Provide Security?
Whether or not a property owner should have provided security will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Some property owners have a greater duty to provide security to visitors than others. For example, the owner of a shopping center may have a duty to protect his customers by providing security inside and outside of the stores. But, a woman who lives in an apartment complex does not have a duty to provide security to her guests in the parking lot outside of the building.
Property owners should also provide security when there has been a history of criminal activity on the property.
When Can Victims Recover Compensation?
Victims can only recover compensation when they can prove that the property owner’s failure to provide adequate security was negligent. To prove this, the victim must show that the property owner either knew or should have known about the security issue, but did nothing to fix it.
For example, let’s say a property owner or one of his employees had to call the cops multiple times within the last few weeks to report crimes in the business’s parking lot. Even though the property owner knew criminal activity was taking place in the parking lot, he failed to provide adequate security to his customers. In this case, the property owner would be liable because he was aware of the risk and did not take action to keep his customers safe.
If you have been injured due to lack of security on another person’s property, contact Reisch Law Firm today. Our experienced personal injury attorneys will immediately begin to gather evidence that we need to hold the property owner accountable for your injuries. Schedule a free consultation today by calling 303-291-0555 or filling out this online form.
