An unexpected injury due to a criminal act can be devastating, but if it occurred on someone else’s property, you may have legal options. To learn more about the legal concept of negligent security in New Jersey and when a property owner can be held responsible for injuries caused by inadequate security measures, continue reading and contact a Sussex County premises liability lawyer today.
What is Premises Liability?
Premises liability is a legal concept that holds property owners, landlords, and sometimes tenants responsible for accidents and injuries that occur on their property due to a dangerous or defective condition. Essentially, it defines the duty of care that an owner or manager of property owes to people who come onto that property.
This duty requires property owners to maintain their premises in a reasonably safe condition and to warn lawful visitors of any known hazards. The specific duty of care owed often depends on the injured person’s status, meaning whether they were an invitee like a customer, a licensee like a social guest, or a trespasser.
What is Negligent Security?
A common way premises liability is applied involves negligent security. This arises when a third party’s criminal act, such as assault or robbery, occurs on the property, and the owner is found liable because they failed to take reasonable measures to protect visitors from foreseeable criminal activity.
Examples of negligent security failures include inadequate lighting, broken locks, non-existent or poorly trained security personnel, or failing to install security cameras in a high-crime area. This concept depends on whether the harm was foreseeable, placing a duty on the owner to act to take reasonable steps to prevent it.
Can I Sue for Injuries Resulting from Inadequate Security in NJ?
You may be able to sue for injuries resulting from inadequate or negligent security in New Jersey, as long as you can establish that the property owner or manager was responsible. To successfully sue, you must prove four elements:
- Duty of care: The property owner owed you a duty of care.
- Breach of duty: The owner breached that duty of care by failing to provide reasonable security measures.
- Foreseeability/causation: The criminal act that injured you was foreseeable, and the inadequate security was a direct cause of your injury. Foreseeability is crucial; a property owner must have been aware of or reasonably should have anticipated criminal activity on or near the premises.
- Damages: You suffered actual physical or financial harm as a result of the injury.
New Jersey courts focus heavily on the totality of the circumstances, examining the property’s history of crime and the surrounding neighborhood to determine if the owner had a duty to provide better security. If this duty was breached, leading directly to your injuries from a foreseeable crime, the owner can be held liable for damages.
Reach out to an experienced attorney for more information today.
