Whenever someone has been victimized by a criminal attack, such as an assault, rape, robbery, or another violent crime, the aftermath can often be devastating to them and their families. The emotional toll it takes is often quite serious, but often, the costs incurred to return their life to something resembling “normal” is often substantial as well. Sometimes, a life is changed forever and other times, the crime leads to their death.
Injury or Death on Another’s Property May Be Legally Actionable
Unfortunately, many victims of crime don’t realize this, but depending on the circumstances surrounding the crime, many victims or surviving family members may have cause to take legal action against the property owner where the attack occurred, based on their failure to provide a reasonable level of security to prevent such an act from happening in the first place. These types of attacks often occur in bars, shopping centers and malls, hotels, parking garages, office buildings, schools, or convenience stores, and the owners or operators of the property have a duty to make their property safe for others by minimizing the risk of illness or injury on their property but provide inadequate security.
When any property owner fails in that duty and an incident occurs, including a criminal attack, the consequences are potentially devastating. Under the doctrine of premises liability, the victim may be able to hold the negligent owner of the property, or “premises,” liable for injuries and damages in inadequate security claims in Texas.
There are a number of issues that may be considered to make valid inadequate security claims in Texas against a property owner in the wake of a violent criminal attack, including:
- Inadequate lighting
- Broken locks or windows or other unsafe conditions
- A lack of adequate security personnel, like bouncers, security guards and parking lot attendants
- Security personnel without appropriate equipment and/or appropriate training
- Inadequate control over the keys
- Lack of security cameras or security cameras that have been disabled
- Failure to respond to complaints about troublemakers
- A business’s negligent hiring practices, including improper screening of security personnel
The basic question that must be answered is, did the owner, the managers, or others in control of the property do everything possible to make sure that everyone using its premises could do so safely? People who have been injured due to inadequate security may very well be able to recover financial compensation for any losses they incur, including medical costs for their injuries and lost income due to their inability to work, as well as pain and suffering and any other damages that can be linked to the attack.
Texas Inadequate Security Injury Lawyers
In order to recover everything a victim is entitled to, it is necessary to conduct a very thorough, very professional investigation of every aspect of the situation, including how the business was run. That means the use of security experts and professional investigators, which means you’ll need to hire the most experienced and committed Corpus Christi personal injury lawyers available to handle your case. If you have been the victim of a violent crime, please contact The Gutierrez Law Firm, so that we can assess the facts and help you build the strongest possible inadequate security claim in Texas, based on crime data in the area, witness testimony and any other evidence we can find through our thorough investigation. Let us help you protect your rights under the law.
