Negligent Security Cases in Illinois

 Posted on June 21, 2023 in Personal Injury

When you are on someone else’s property, your safety is not guaranteed. However, property owners do have an obligation to act as a reasonable property owner would in protecting patrons from harm. One way that a property owner could become liable for injuries incurred on their property is if they did not provide adequate security, and someone was injured in an attack. If you were injured in an attack in an area with inadequate security, an Illinois personal injury lawyer can review your case and advise you if you have a legal cause of action against the property owner.

Negligence is The Standard in Cases Involving Security

Like every other personal injury case, liability depends on a finding of negligence. The property owner does not have to be perfect. Instead, they must act reasonably under the individual circumstances. You have the burden of proof to show that the property owner departed from the standard of care in your case.

When a Property Owner May Be Held Liable

In order for you to win a negligent security lawsuit, you would need to prove that the property owner knew, or should have known, of a dangerous condition, and they failed to take reasonable steps to protect you from harm. For example, if an establishment is in a high-crime area, or there has been a previous incident on the property, the owner would be charged with knowledge. The key is that the attack must have been foreseeable.

Then, the question is whether the owner did enough to protect you. They do not have the obligation to prevent all attacks. Instead, they need to take reasonable measures to stop potential attacks. What is reasonable depends on the individual circumstances based on what was foreseeable. In some cases, posting a security guard or two may be adequate security. 

Here are other examples of security measures that a property owner should institute:

• Installing adequate or extra lighting

• Restricting entry at the front door, or establishing an entry control point

• Increased training of security guards and regular patrols of the property

The protective measures must be commensurate with the level of threat. Otherwise, the property owner may have acted unreasonably. 

Contact a DuPage County Personal Injury Attorney Today

The attorneys at Kaiser Law can promptly investigate the attack that injured you and help you pursue justice if it was caused, in part, by a property owner’s negligence. To speak with an Elmhurst personal injury lawyer, you can call us at 630-274-4400. We offer free consultations to perspective clients.

Source:

https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/premises-liability-and-negligent-security-issues-and-implications