Foreseeable Crime in a Maryland Negligent Security Case

Foreseeable crime in a Maryland inadequate or negligent security case requires extra precautions by an owner. A property/business owner has to protect their patrons from foreseeable harm, not unforeseeable harm. If a patron is on the property to purchase something and a person comes in to rob the premises, and the patron gets shot by the robber, that may be considered unforeseeable.

In contrast, if the property gets robbed all the time, then that is likely a foreseeable harm. Likewise, if it is located in a known crime area, they should likely have security cameras, and do what they can to protect their patrons from the criminal element. A skilled negligent security lawyer can offer more insight into the subject.

Who Makes Security Determinations?

The business owner and the property owner should make security determinations based on the crime statistics in the area. In the context of a lawsuit, it would be the trier of fact (the judge or jury) who makes the decision of whether or not the property owner knew or should have known of the damages.

If someone is in a store or in an area where crime is prevalent, they have reason to know that something could happen and a responsibility to take measures to protect their patrons. The patrons themselves need to be aware of where they are and have a responsibility to protect them. It is not always the property owner or the business operator’s sole responsibility if somebody gets injured on their premises. This is important in a foreseeable crime in a Maryland inadequate or negligent security case.

Example of Foreseeable Crime

Another example of foreseeable is if a bar has college night. College night tends to cause a lot of bar brawls. If bar brawls are common and the property owner does nothing to stop it, then they could be held responsible. The business owner should stop having college night or increase their security, have more bouncers, have security cameras, kick people out who are misbehaving, et cetera. These would be measures to prevent foreseeable crime in Maryland inadequate or negligent security cases.

Preventable Criminal Attack

If someone knows that there are going to be fights on the premises and their security team is sitting there, watching people get out of hand, they should be removing the people that are causing the problem from the property.

If a restaurant owner or a bar owner is aware that Mr. Smith comes in every Friday night, gets drunk and becomes violent, and does nothing about it, and if he hurts someone, then they are highly responsible because it is a foreseeable crime. Mr. Smith did not take adequate measures and he was negligent in his security.

Higher Standard of Care

A premises liability case does not have to deal with what the crime is and/or the injury, it has to deal with why someone is on the property in the first place. What are they there for? If they are a patron (a business invitee), that means that the property owner owes them a higher standard of care.

If it is a park and they are there for their own purposes, then they are considered a licensee allowed to be on the property for their own purposes and not to engage in a business transaction. The third status is a trespasser, in which the landowner has no duty to protect them. If it is about premises liability, first determine why someone is on the premises and what happened on the premises while they were there, which establishes the duty and responsibility.