The law requires certain commercial establishments to provide a safe place for their patrons, which includes security, making sure that there is no danger and nothing that can cause harm to the people who were there. When these establishments do not provide enough security and an incident happens, they may be responsible for the damages.

If it is foreseeable that the establishment could be creating a dangerous atmosphere to be in, they need to be sure that they are providing enough security (and well-trained security) to prevent any incidents from occurring that would result in injuries to the people there as patrons who are usually paying these commercial defendants to be there. When the security is negligent or inadequate, a skilled premises liability attorney will be able to help build a case for anyone who has suffered injuries from an accident. A New Jersey negligent security lawyer has the experience to help you put forward your best claim.

Adequate Security

Determining adequate security will be a case-by-case analysis. In cases of inadequate or negligent security, sometimes it is appropriate to sue the property owner or the establishment itself. At other times, if the commercial defendant had hired an outside security company to provide security and they did so negligently, the security company can be sued.

It is important to do an investigation to find out who was responsible for the security and why it was not done properly. Every case is different and needs to have a fact-sensitive determination in what makes security adequate. A lawyer in New Jersey can evaluate a case and determine the responsible parties for a negligent security suit.

Crimes Associated with Inadequate Security

Crimes that have occurred from inadequate security, including murder, assaults, and sexual assaults have commonly been seen by inadequate security attorneys in New Jersey. They have seen cases of criminal attacks at various venues where people were paying to be there and there was just not enough security, which resulted in people being severely harmed.

A criminal incident that could have been prevented would be considered a preventable criminal attack. To determine whether the attack was preventable, New Jersey negligent security lawyers would have to investigate, as every case is unique. Every negligent security case in New Jersey needs a fact-sensitive analysis to determine whether the attack was preventable, and if so, to determine why the proper steps were not taken by this defendant to make sure that such an event did not occur. The statute of limitations to present a case for one of these accidents or attacks is two years from the date of the incident, which is the same as other premises liability cases.

Foreseeable Crime

A foreseeable crime is any crime that could have been anticipated to occur. There are proper safety procedures an establishment can implement to try to prevent certain crimes that may occur. There are certainly times where, even if a defendant or their security company has taken all the proper steps and done everything correctly, something occurs that is completely unforeseeable and unpreventable and no one is deemed to be at fault for that happened. That determination is made after an investigation occurs where attorneys look into whether there was any negligence involved. They would most likely do this by hiring security experts to analyze all the facts of each individual case and then make a decision about whether they feel that there was a deviation from what should have been done.

A jury would be the ultimate finder of whether a crime was unforeseeable or whether the defendant could have done anything differently. But before attorneys take their case to that jury, they are going to make sure that they have hired experts and looked it into every detail of the case.

Duty of Protection from Foreseeable Harm

Any commercial establishment has a duty to prevent foreseeable harm, which is usually based on a reasonableness standard. They have to consider what a reasonable person would have expected them to do to prevent this foreseeable harm, and whether that was correcting the harm or warning of the harm. If there is foreseeable harm, then the establishment has a duty to take action, which is usually based on a reasonableness standard.

Burden of Proof

In an inadequate or negligent security case in New Jersey, what needs to be proved is that the defendant deviated from what should have been done to prevent foreseeable harm or a foreseeable crime. The plaintiff must prove that the defendant did not take proper steps in preventing that foreseeable harm. The burden of proof is on the plaintiff to demonstrate that the defendant was at fault. The plaintiff must prove this by a preponderance of the evidence, which means attorneys have the burden of proving that it was more likely than not that this defendant acted negligently. Sometimes different burden-shifting facts could apply, but for the most part, the plaintiff would have the burden of proof in showing that the defendants were negligent.

Contact a New Jersey Negligent Security Attorney

It is important that if a person feels they are the victim of a crime that could have been prevented by security in a commercial establishment, that they contact an New Jersey negligent security attorney immediately to start an investigation. It is important in these types of cases to quickly begin an investigation to find out how much security was on staff, who was working, what their training was, and many other questions. A prompt investigation is needed in order for them to receive the compensation they deserve. Call today to discuss your legal options.

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