Your Right to Relief: Negligent Security in West Virginia
July 4, 2016 | By Colombo Law
In many cases, individuals who are injured in an accident have rights to relief. This relief may come in many forms including monetary compensation for your injuries. However, many individuals are not aware of all of the different types of injuries that may entitle them to compensation. One particular instance in which individuals may be entitled to compensation involves negligent security of a premises. If you are injured in any type of accident in the state of West Virginia, Colombo Law firm is available to help you. No matter how big or how small your case is, our personal injury attorneys will review your claim and determine your probability of success.
What is Negligent Security?
In the state of West Virginia, property owners are required to ensure that their premises are safe by protecting customers from crimes that are reasonably foreseeable to occur on the premises. This applies to many different types of businesses including apartments complexes, condominiums, shopping centers, bars, and recreation facilities. Negligent security arises when a business owner is aware of a problem that concerns safety and he or she fails to take reasonable measures to ensure that occupants are safe from the threat. The action to remediate the situation may vary. For instance, an apartment complex might install cameras and a security system in each apartment after a string of break-ins, while a bar may increase its number of bouncers.
Examples of Negligent Security Claims
A negligent security claim may arise from many different circumstances. In fact, many businesses are susceptible to a negligent security claim. Some negligent security claims are more common than others:
- Failure to provide adequate lighting: Failure to provide adequate lighting is a common reason for causes of actions involving negligent security. In many cases, repeat offenses such as rapes, robberies, and assaults occur in places that are not properly lit for safe travel.
- Prevention of Criminal Activity: Many apartment communities in West Virginia and throughout the United States have experienced significant surges in criminal activity. Negligent security actions have been brought against housing community complexes when they are aware of break-ins, loitering, and other criminal activity and fail to prevent the crime while it continues to occur.
- Inadequate or Insufficient Security: In today’s day and age, most nightclubs and bars have bouncers who are able to intervene if unsafe circumstances arise in the facility. However, many nightclubs and bars are understaffed or have inexperienced bouncers working at events. This creates liability for the premises owner for negligent security because a facility cannot adequately control situations as they occur.
Even in those instances when a property owner takes sufficient action to remedy a problem with criminal activity, there may still be an investigation to determine the reasonableness of the safety measures taken. Our attorneys will investigate the reasonableness of the action taken, which will be a factor in assessing your negligent security claim. The knowledge of an experienced attorney is key to a successful investigation and to your probability of success. The attorneys at Colombo Law are highly experienced personal injury attorneys who are happy to assist you with your negligent security claim. For a risk- free initial consultation, contact Colombo Law today.
