While violent crime is declining nationwide, many people sustain severe injuries due to someone else’s criminal act. Depending on where the act occurred, you may have grounds after being hurt to file suit not only against the criminal who directly harmed you but also against the owner or manager of the land where the crime occurred.
Filing a lawsuit over negligent security, sometimes called inadequate security, can be tricky, but an experienced personal injury attorney could help. When you want to demand compensation from a property owner for a crime on their land that injured you, seek legal counsel from a seasoned and dedicated Media negligent security lawyer.
Landowners do not automatically hold civil liability for every criminal act that occurs on their land, nor are they automatically liable for every accidental injury someone sustains on their property. However, they do have a “duty of care” requiring them to take reasonable precautions to prevent lawful visitors from getting hurt, and “reasonable precautions” often include security measures designed to dissuade criminal activity.
Different types of property may be expected to have different levels of security. Landowners are generally expected to prepare for “foreseeable” crimes, for example, by putting bars over ground-level windows in a complex that has experienced break-ins or installing security cameras in a garage. When a landowner irresponsibly allows a crime to occur because they failed to take appropriate precautions, a Media negligent security attorney could hold them liable on an injured person’s behalf.
The first step to building a strong negligent security lawsuit is establishing through evidence that the crime that resulted in the injury was foreseeable. This typically means researching local crime statistics and potentially speaking with law enforcement about crimes they have handled in the past at the property in question and on nearby property. A seasoned inadequate security lawyer in Media could assist in accomplishing this task.
An injured person must also prove the injuries and losses for which they are suing were caused directly by the criminal act. Depending on the circumstances, this may require collecting and presenting evidence like medical records and bills, surveillance camera footage, police reports, witness testimony, and testimony from other people affiliated with the property owner – for example, other tenants in an apartment complex who were impacted by crime in the area.
You deserve to be safe to a reasonable extent while visiting or residing on property owned by another person. When a landowner’s lack of sufficient security measures led to you getting hurt through a criminal act, their negligence could be the basis for civil litigation, and you could recover financially for your losses.
Guidance is available through the legal process from a knowledgeable Media inadequate security lawyer with a track record of success with cases like yours. Call today to schedule a consultation.
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