Negligent Security
Legal help for negligent security on a business’s property.
If you or a loved one have been assaulted, you probably feel like you are on your own. Usually, the criminals that commit those types of crimes have no money or assets, so once they serve their sentence (if they are ever caught), you are left to recover on your own. But what if the owner of the property where you were assaulted knew of the danger? What if they knew about it but rather than taking any security measures or warning you, decided to save a couple hundred dollars? They could be held accountable for negligent security.
What is Negligent Security?
A woman is attacked in a dark parking lot. She is gravely injured and severely traumatized and left dealing with her physical and emotional injuries for the rest of her life. What if you find out that two other people had been mugged in the same dark parking lot? And the owner of the property, a business which makes millions per year, knew about the attacks but to save the cost of a light installation did nothing? What about some fences which would have cost only a couple thousand dollars? Or security cameras for a couple hundred? What if there were dangerous people wandering around and the managers knew it, but didn’t bother calling the police because they didn’t want repercussions to their storefront? Those choices put that victim’s personal safety at risk. The company’s negligence put her in harm’s way. Why is the company’s insurance now telling them to put all the blame on the criminal, when that criminal activity was foreseeable?
If you have been attacked and feel that a company did not adequately secure their property, you should contact a qualified personal injury attorney who knows how to handle negligent security claims. At Herman & Wells, we have been handling these claims for years.
The standard for Negligent Security cases in Florida.
Different areas (districts) of Florida have different standards for when the owner of the property can be held responsible, so until this is ironed out by the Supreme Court of Florida, the location of the incident could determine whether you have a claim or not. As a result, not just any personal injury attorney can handle the case. They must have special knowledge about each district of Florida. Herman & Wells practices all over the state and we know the differences between the different districts.
That said, the general factors to look at as to whether you can make a negligent security claim will be determined by:
- the foreseeability of the crime, (based loosely on geography and time and proximity of similar crimes)
- the control of the premises by the defendant
- a duty owed to the person harmed.
Do you have a case?
While you read this page, you may have realized that you have a claim. If you have been assaulted on a business’s property, please do not hesitate to call for a free case evaluation. We may be able to check the area to see if there have been more crimes that the business knew about.
