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Injured Due to Negligent Security? Hire a Trusted Lawyer

Jan 23, 2026

If a property owner’s lack of reasonable safety measures caused your injury, you may be entitled to compensation. Violence is often possible because of broken locks, poor lighting, missing cameras, or ignored crime. A negligent security lawyer helps hold property owners accountable when preventable danger causes harm. At Roxell Richards Injury Law Firm, we represent people devastated when a business or landlord fails in their duty to protect.

What Negligent Security Really Means
Why Security Failures Create Legal Liability
Where Negligent Security Happens Most Often
Common Types of Negligent Security Injuries
Who Is Responsible for Providing Security?
What You Must Prove in a Negligent Security Claim
The Role of Foreseeability in These Cases
Evidence Your Negligent Security Lawyer Will Look For
What Compensation Can Cover
What Property Owners and Insurers Will Argue
Why Working With Roxell Richards Injury Law Firm Matters
What to Do Right Now If You Were Injured
Final Call to Action

What Negligent Security Really Means

Negligent security is a type of premises liability law. In plain terms, it means a property owner, landlord, or business did not take reasonable steps to keep visitors safe from foreseeable crime. When a criminal harms someone on a property, the criminal is responsible for the crime, but the property owner may also be responsible if their lack of security made the crime more likely or easier to commit.

Here’s the important thing: Property owners don’t have to prevent every crime. But the law requires them to act responsibly when they know or can predict a risk. If warning signs existed and the owner ignored them or cut safety corners to save money, that owner engaged in negligent security.

A negligent security lawyer looks at what happened to you and asks:

- Was this type of crime foreseeable here?
- What security measures were missing or defective?
- Would basic safety steps likely have prevented or reduced the harm?

If the answer is yes, you may have a valid claim.

Why Security Failures Create Legal Liability

Property owners and managers profit when people enter their spaces to shop, live, work, travel, or socialize. With that benefit comes responsibility. The law expects owners to maintain reasonably safe premises and protect lawful visitors from avoidable criminal harm.

Negligent security cases typically revolve around:

- Duty of care: The owner owed you a responsibility to keep you safe.
- Breach: They failed to meet that responsibility.
- Causation: Their failure contributed to what happened.
- Damages: You suffered real losses as a result.

Consider this example: If a hotel ignores frequent robberies in its parking lot and refuses to install lighting or cameras, it leaves the door open for trouble. When a crime occurs, the hotel’s inaction contributes to that harm.

A negligent security claim is essentially about proving:
“This didn’t have to happen if the property owner had done what a reasonable owner would do.”

Where Negligent Security Happens Most Often

Violent incidents can occur anywhere. Negligent security claims are most common in places where owners should anticipate risk, given the property’s nature or crime history. Some high-risk locations include:

Apartment Complexes and Condos

Tenants and guests rely on landlords for safe entryways, working locks, secure gates, and working lights. Crimes often happen when access points are broken or when management ignores repeated complaints.

A male hotel receptionist wearing a black vest and white shirt holds a clipboard while speaking with a female guest at a modern white reception desk

Hotels and Motels

Hotels invite the public in daily. They must control who enters rooms, hallways, elevators, and parking areas. Poor surveillance and lax security can allow dangerous people to move freely.

Parking Lots and Garages

Parking areas are common crime scenes. They are usually dark, isolated, and give attackers easy escape routes. Broken lights and missing cameras are classic signs of negligent security.

Bars, Clubs, and Restaurants

Crowds, alcohol, late-night hours, and cash transactions increase risk. Owners must plan accordingly, especially if fights, assaults, or robberies have occurred there before.

Shopping Centers and Convenience Stores

Retail properties are often targets for robbery and assault. If a business continues to operate in a high-crime area without upgrading security, that may constitute negligence.

Event Venues and Stadiums

Events require crowd control, trained security staff, bag checks, and clear emergency plans. Failure to manage predictable risks can expose you to liability.

A negligent security lawyer examines the property and its surroundings. If the neighborhood has a known crime problem, that fact strengthens the case for higher security.

Common Types of Negligent Security Injuries

Negligent security cases arise after a wide range of offenses. Some of the most common include:

- Assault and battery (including physical beatings or attacks)
- Sexual assault or harassment
- Robbery or mugging
- Carjacking
- Stabbings or shootings
- Kidnapping or unlawful restraint
- Attacks inside apartment complexes by intruders
- Violence in stairwells, hallways, or elevators
- Parking lot attacks while entering or exiting a vehicle

These incidents can cause:

- Broken bones
- Head injuries or traumatic brain injury
- Internal bleeding
- Permanent scarring or disfigurement
- Spinal cord injuries
- Anxiety disorders and PTSD
- Depression or long-term emotional trauma

Harm in these cases can be severe, often resulting in substantial compensation. This is a key reason owners and insurers frequently dispute payment.

Who Is Responsible for Providing Security?

Whoever controls the property and has the ability to fix dangers or provide security measures can be held liable. That may include:

- Property owners
- Landlords
- Property management companies
- Business tenants (like the bar owner leasing the space)
- Security firms are hired to patrol or monitor the property.
- Event organizers
- Corporate owners or franchises
- Maintenance contractors handle lights, locks, gates, and alarms.

Professional legal consultation with an attorney at law featuring a gavel and scales of justice, representing expert legal advice and law firm services for clients

A negligent security lawyer identifies all potentially responsible parties. This is important. Some owners try to blame security companies. Security companies may blame owners for not providing enough resources. A strong legal team sorts this out and targets everyone who contributed to the failure.

What You Must Prove in a Negligent Security Claim

Every negligent security case is different, but most require proving four core elements:

1. You Were Lawfully on the Property

You must have had permission to be there, such as a customer, tenant, guest, employee, or invitee. Trespassers generally receive less legal protection (though there are exceptions).

2. The Property Owner Owed You a Duty of Care

Owners of public or residential property owe visitors a duty to keep the premises reasonably safe. That duty increases as the crime risk increases.

3. The Owner Breached That Duty

This means showing that security was inadequate. Examples:

- No lights where lights were needed
- Broken locks are ignored for weeks. Security guards are absent in a known high-risk area.
- Cameras are missing or non-functional
- Staff are untrained to handle security threats. The Breach Led to Your Harm

You must show a connection between weak security and the crime. The argument is not that security guarantees safety. It is reasonable to believe that measures would have prevented or reduced the likelihood of what happened.

A negligent security lawyer plays an essential role because proving causation in these cases requires careful investigation and persuasive storytelling.

The Role of Foreseeability in These Cases

Foreseeability is often the battlefield. Owners commonly argue that the crime was random and unpredictable. Your negligent security lawyer counters by showing that danger was predictable based on:

Person dialing 911 on a mobile phone for an emergency call, representing urgent assistance, first responder contact, and personal safety measures

- Prior crimes on the same property
- Police reports or repeated 911 calls.
- Crime statistics in the surrounding area
- Past tenant/customer complaints
- Security assessments noting risks
- The type of business and operating hours
- Lack of basic safety precautions in a high-crime setting

A history of similar crimes is strong evidence. But even without it, foreseeability can exist when the circumstances clearly show a high risk. For example, a convenience store open late at night in an area with frequent robberies should anticipate danger.

Evidence Your Negligent Security Lawyer Will Look For

These cases are evidence-heavy. A negligent security lawyer will move quickly to preserve proof before it disappears. Key evidence may include:

Surveillance Footage

A video can show conditions such as darkness or the absence of a guard. It can reveal the attacker’s movements and timeline. Many businesses overwrite footage in days or weeks, so urgency matters.

Incident Reports and Police Records

These show what happened and may reveal whether staff had concerns beforehand.

911 Call Logs

Repeated calls for crime on the property help prove foreseeability.

Maintenance and Repair Logs

If the lights were out, the locks were broken, or the cameras malfunctioned, these logs can prove that the owners knew about the issues and delayed repairs.

Crime Statistics

Neighborhood and property crime rates help establish a predictable risk profile.

Witness Statements

Other tenants, patrons, or employees often saw dangerous patterns long before your attack.

Security Company Documents

Contracts, staffing schedules, training manuals, and patrol logs show what security was supposed to provide and whether it did.

Expert Testimony

Security experts can explain what a reasonable owner would have done under similar circumstances.

What Compensation Can Cover

Negligent security injuries often come with stacked losses: physical, financial, and psychological. Compensation may include:

Economic Damages

- Emergency treatment and hospital care
- Surgery, rehab, medications
- Ongoing medical monitoring
- Therapy or psychiatric care
- Lost income during recovery
- Future lost earning ability.
- Transportation to medical appointments
- Property losses from the crime (phone, wallet, vehicle damage)

Non-Economic Damages

- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- PTSD and anxiety
- Depression, insomnia, panic attacks
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Disfigurement or long-term disability
- Loss of companionship or intimacy in serious cases

Wrongful Death Damages

If negligent security led to a fatal attack, the surviving family may recover:

- Funeral and burial costs
- Loss of financial support
- Loss of guidance and companionship
- Emotional suffering of survivors

As a seasoned negligent security lawyer, I calculate not only current expenses but also future needs, so you aren’t left struggling years later.

What Property Owners and Insurers Will Argue

Expect pushback. Property owners and their insurance companies often use the same strategies:

“We did enough.”

They’ll claim their security met the standard, even if it was clearly inadequate. Your negligent security lawyer uses experts and evidence to show otherwise.

“The crime was random.”

They try to remove foreseeability. Crime reports, statistics, and prior incidents refute that.

“We’re not responsible for criminals.”

True, they didn’t commit the crime, but they are responsible for creating a safe environment when dangers are predictable.

“You were careless.”

Victim-blaming may include claims that you were distracted, alone, or should have avoided the area. These arguments don’t erase the owner’s duty.

“Another party is responsible.”

Owners may blame security contractors, while contractors blame owners. A negligent security lawyer identifies shared liability and prevents finger-pointing from reducing your recovery.

Why Working With Roxell Richards Injury Law Firm Matters

Negligent security cases are not simple. They require investigation skills, legal strategy, and the willingness to take on powerful property owners. At Roxell Richards Injury Law Firm, we understand what’s at stake. We also understand the trauma victims face after a violent incident.

When you hire us, we will:

1. Listen to your story with compassion.
2. Secure time-sensitive evidence immediately.
3. Investigate the property’s crime history and security measures.
4. Consult trained security experts.
5. Build a detailed, evidence-backed claim.
6. Handle all insurance negotiations.
7. Take your case to trial if needed.

We do this because accountability changes behavior. When negligent owners are forced to pay, they are more likely to fix dangerous conditions and protect others in the future.

What to Do Right Now If You Were Injured

If you’ve been harmed on unsafe property, here are steps that can protect your health and your case:

1. Get medical care immediately. Even if injuries seem minor, trauma can worsen. Records matter.
2. File a police report. Provide accurate details and request a copy.
3. Document the scene if possible. Photos of lighting, gates, locks, cameras, and layout can be powerful evidence.
4. Write down your memory of the event. Times, locations, descriptions, and who you spoke to.
5. Gather witness contact details. Other tenants or patrons may confirm unsafe conditions.
6. Avoid social media discussion. Insurers may twist posts against you.
7. Call a negligent security lawyer quickly. Evidence fades fast; action protects your claim.

Even if you’re unsure about filing a lawsuit, a consultation can give you clarity and control.

Final Call to Action: Get Help From a Negligent Security Lawyer Today

You didn’t ask to be put in danger. You didn’t deserve to be attacked, assaulted, or traumatized because a property owner ignored safety. When businesses and landlords choose profit over protection, they must be held accountable, and you deserve the resources to heal and move forward.

If you believe negligent security played a role in your injuries, don’t wait and don’t try to take on a powerful insurance company alone. The truth matters, your recovery matters, and your future matters.

Contact Roxell Richards Law Firm today for a free consultation.

No upfront cost
No fees unless we win
Direct access to a trusted legal team that fights for victims

Let an experienced negligent security lawyer stand beside you, protect your rights, and pursue the full compensation you’re owed.

Reach out today and let us help you turn a preventable tragedy into a path toward justice.

Roxell Richards Injury Law Firm

6420 Richmond Ave. Ste. #135
Houston, TX z7057
Phone: (713) 974-0388
Fax: (713) 974-0003

Get Free Case Review

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I know if I have a negligent security case?

You may have a claim if:

You were lawfully on the property,
A crime harmed you,
Security was inadequate, and
The crime was foreseeable.

A negligent security lawyer compares your situation to safety standards and local crime patterns to confirm whether the owner likely breached their duty.

2. What kinds of crimes qualify for negligent security claims?

Negligent security cases can involve:

Assault or battery
Sexual assault
Robbery or mugging
Carjacking
Shootings or stabbings
Kidnapping
Home invasions in residential complexes
Violence in parking lots, hallways, elevators, or stairwells

If the location was unsafe in ways that enabled the crime, talk to a negligent security lawyer.

3. Can I still sue if the attacker was never caught?

Yes. Your claim focuses on the property owner’s negligence, not the criminal’s identity. Even if law enforcement never identifies the attacker, a negligent security lawyer can still prove that poor security created the opportunity for the crime.

4. What if the owner says the crime was unpredictable?

That’s a common defense. Your negligent security lawyer may respond by showing:

Prior similar crimes
Numerous police calls
Crime patterns nearby
Warnings or complaints ignored.
Obviously missing security despite known risk.

Foreseeability doesn’t require predicting the exact criminal. It requires recognizing the risk of crime and responding reasonably.

5. How much does it cost to hire a negligent security lawyer?

At Roxell Richards Injury Law Firm, negligent security cases are handled on contingency:

No upfront fees
No hourly bills
We only get paid if we win.

That means you can seek justice without financial pressure.