Who can share in the responsibility for my injuries?

It's difficult to answer this question broadly, because the circumstances of the particular crimes can be so different.  With that caveat, anybody who participated in the crime - or anybody who had a duty to foresee and prevent the crime - can be held responsible.  This includes:  

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• Property Owner and/or Occupier (i.e. an apartment complex owner that fails to perform a background check on a known sex offender); 

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• Security Firm (i.e. security guards who are hired specifically to protect you from a particular type of crime); 

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• Criminal's Employer (i.e. failure to perform background checks, train, and/or supervise someone who commits a crime while on the job);

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• Vehicle Owner (i.e. if a vehicle owner negligently entrusts their vehicle to someone who is drunk);

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• Bar/Restaurant Owner (under Dram Shop laws, anyone who serves alcohol to another person who later gets in a drunk driving accident may be responsible)

When can a property or business owner share in the responsibility for crime?

A property or business owner can share in responsibility because of their nondelegable, civil duty to make their premises safe. 

And generally, a property owner or business owner can share in the responsibility for crime when they have reason to foresee that particular types of crime are likely to take place.  This is most often seen for attacks, shootings, rapes, and other sexual assaults.

Usually, proving foreseeability is done in two ways:  (1) showing that the business or property is located in a known, high-crime area, or (2) demonstrating that there has been a pattern or history of substantially similar crime on the property.

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For drunk drivers, there are specific statutes that allow you to pursue claims against any establishment that provided alcoholic beverages.

How can a property or business owner share in the responsibility for my injury?

A property or business owner can be can share in the responsibility for attacks, shootings, and rapes for several various reasons.  At the heart of their responsiblity, it must be proved that they allowed foreseeable criminal activity to take place on their property without taking reasonable steps to make the property safe:

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IDENTIFICATION

Crime can be foreseeable by taking simple, common-sense steps.  Unfortunately, property and business owner often neglect these steps:

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• Background checks of employees;

• Background checks of tenants;

• Analyzing and reviewing internal complaints; and

• Conducting as security audit on risks, protocols, and training.

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DETERRENCE

Property and business owners should also take steps to deter foreseeable crime on their property.  This means identifying and mitigating criminal opportunity, including:

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• Provide adequate lighting;

• Utilize adequate surveillance cameras;

• Constructing fences and gates (to limit access);

• Installing and maintaining operational locks on doors and windows;

• Using security guards, when justified;

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MONITORING & RESPONSE

​When specific crimes do occur on the property, a property or business owner is not allowed to simply sit on their hands - they should take appropriate action.  The monitoring and responsive measures could include:

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• Adequate and periodic inspections of the property to discover criminal activity;

• Installing well-lighted emergency call boxes on large campuses;

• Monitoring surveillance cameras; and

• Notifying law enforcement timely.

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The polices, procedures, training, and supervision of the businesses becomes important when proving monitoring and response of a property and/or business owner.

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WARNINGS

Finally, if a property and/or business owner is aware of the risk of injury and/or rape on their property, they should provide a warning to their customers.  This almost never happens.