Chicago, IL Negligent Security Attorneys

Dedicated Attorneys for Assaults or Other Injuries Caused by a Lack of Security in Chicago, Illinois

Property owners who invite visitors onto their premises will have legal responsibilities toward those visitors. The reasonable measures that must be taken to protect the safety of visitors may include providing security. When a property is located in an area where crimes may occur, an owner may need to take steps to protect guests, tenants, customers, or other visitors from harm. Failing to provide adequate security can lead to assaults, robberies, or other crimes. Victims of these crimes may suffer physical injuries, psychological trauma, and financial losses.

At Gallagher & Kosner Law, we represent people in the Chicago area who have been harmed by criminals on properties where owners failed to provide security. We work to hold property owners liable for ignoring known risks and failing to take precautions that could deter criminals or protect visitors. We can investigate the history of criminal activity on and around a property, look at the security measures that were in place, and show that reasonable safeguards should have been used to prevent a crime.

Legal Duties of Property Owners Regarding Security

The key question in cases involving negligent security will be whether a situation was foreseeable. When criminal acts are likely to occur in certain circumstances, a property owner must use the appropriate security measures to prevent visitors from suffering harm. Issues such as prior incidents on the property, criminal activity in the surrounding neighborhood, and other potential dangers that a property owner should have known about may be addressed in a premises liability case involving negligent security.

Inadequate Lighting

Darkness can provide cover for criminals who target victims in parking lots, stairwells, hallways, or other areas. Property owners who fail to maintain adequate lighting may create conditions that could allow crimes to occur.

Parking garages and parking lots should have enough light to ensure that people can see their surroundings, identify potential threats, and move safely to their vehicles. A person who was assaulted while walking to their car in a dark corner of a shopping center parking lot may have been protected if proper lighting had allowed them to see and avoid danger.

Building entrances, lobbies, and common areas in apartment complexes and office buildings will need adequate lighting to prevent criminals from hiding and ambushing people. Stairwells can be dangerous when they are poorly lit, as attackers can wait on landings where victims will be unable to see them until it is too late. A person attacked in a dark stairwell of an apartment building may have a valid claim against a property owner who knew that lights were out but failed to replace them.

Missing or Defective Locks

By controlling who can access a property, residents or guests may be protected against unauthorized entry by criminals. Apartment buildings and residential complexes should have secure entry systems that prevent unauthorized people from entering. Broken lobby door locks, intercom systems that do not work, or key card readers that do not prevent entry may be forms of negligent security. A resident who was assaulted in a hallway by someone who entered through a broken security door may take steps to hold a landlord accountable for failing to provide security.

Locks on individual units must meet reasonable security standards. Landlords who provide units with locks that can be easily bypassed, do not change locks when tenants move out, or fail to repair broken locks after tenants report problems may be held liable when break-ins occur. Window locks and security bars may also be needed to provide protection against break-ins. A tenant may have a claim against a landlord who ignored repeated requests to fix a broken deadbolt, which led to a burglary.

No Security Personnel

Certain properties may require security guards to ensure that visitors or residents will be protected. Hotels, nightclubs or bars, shopping centers, and large apartment complexes may need security guards who can monitor activity, respond to incidents, and take steps to address criminal behavior.

The presence of security personnel can discourage criminals from targeting people on or near a property. Security guards can also respond quickly when suspicious activity occurs or when emergencies arise. The quality of security personnel may also be a factor in the safety of visitors. Guards who are inadequately trained, fail to patrol as required, sleep on duty, or ignore suspicious activity may not provide the protection people need. Property owners who fail to provide security guards or verify the credentials of security companies may be liable for their failure to protect people's safety.

Lack of Surveillance Systems

Security cameras can protect visitors or tenants in multiple ways. They can deter criminal activity when people know that they are being recorded and could be identified. They can allow security personnel or property managers to monitor for suspicious behavior. The footage they capture can document incidents when crimes occur.

Security camera systems may be used in parking areas, entrances, elevators, hallways, and other locations where criminal activity may occur. The absence of cameras despite known risks may demonstrate negligence by a property owner. A retail store that has experienced parking lot robberies but never installed cameras in the lot may be liable when a customer is robbed at gunpoint.

Even when cameras are present, they must function properly, and they must be monitored by security guards or other personnel. Broken cameras, systems that do not provide adequate coverage, or a failure to keep footage that has been recorded are examples of security failures that could lead to liability for property owners.

Negligent Security Claims

Our attorneys can help victims take steps to show that inadequate security was responsible for crimes or injuries. We can show that a property owner was responsible for protecting a person's safety and that steps should have been taken to prevent criminal activity.

Evidence of previous crimes can be important in these cases. We can obtain police reports related to assaults, robberies, break-ins, or other criminal incidents that occurred on or near the premises. This can show that the owner should have been prepared for future incidents and taken protective measures to protect people's safety.

We can look at the security measures the property owner had used and compare them to industry standards and practices at similar properties. A property with no lighting, no cameras, no security guards, and broken locks may fall far below reasonable standards. If some security features were in place, we can help demonstrate that they were not sufficient based on the known risks.

Our lawyers can also take steps to establish causation and show that proper security measures would have prevented or reduced the likelihood of a crime. We can help demonstrate that adequate lighting would have allowed a person to see and avoid an attacker, that working locks would have kept a criminal out of a building, or that security guards would have intervened before an assault. Showing that a property owner's failures directly contributed to harm can help ensure that they will be held liable.

Contact Our Chicago, IL Negligent Security Attorneys

Property owners who failed to provide reasonable security measures should be held accountable when people are harmed as a result. The attorneys at Gallagher & Kosner Law fight for victims of crimes that could have been prevented through proper security. Contact our Chicago negligent security lawyers at 312-910-5050 to arrange a free consultation.