Charleston Negligent Security Lawyer

When you’re visiting any type of property, whether it’s your child’s school or your own apartment complex, you expect the property to be safe, well-lit, and secure. Unfortunately, many West Virginia business and property owners are negligent with maintenance and security, even when they’re legally obligated to keep their visitors and tenants safe and injury-free.

If you or someone you know has been injured due to the negligence of others, a Charleston negligent security lawyer at Forbes Law Offices is on your side. Our team has experience handling claims where inadequate safety measures led to injury or even death, and we will fight for your legal right to compensation.

Types of Negligent Security

There are many different types of negligent security, from overgrown bushes to inoperable security cameras. The following is a short list of some of the most common preventable situations in which someone could suffer harm due to a property owner neglecting their duty:

• Security guard concerns: When a busy property has no security guards or guards who don’t perform their duties properly, this can lead to theft or injury to the visitors on the property.
• Failure to provide adequate lighting: Many apartment complexes and shopping centers have poor lighting, which creates an unsafe environment and can contribute to higher crime, including assaults or robberies.
• Prevention of criminal activity: This often goes alongside security guard concerns, as criminals will more likely continue to commit crimes when no one stops them, even if security guards or cameras are present.
• Inadequate securing of premises: Failure to maintain fences and gates, to change locks and access codes, or to have properly working cameras can all lead to unauthorized access to a property and result in break-ins or assaults.
• Crowd control issues: Not hiring enough staff to regulate crowds at concerts or sporting events can lead to overcrowding or trampling incidents and cause severe injury. Also, not properly screening visitors can lead to violent outbursts or shootings.
• Inadequately maintained premises: Broken locks, doors, or windows; loose or missing handrails; faulty elevators; broken exit lights; and overgrown vegetation – all of these can contribute to injuries or provide cover for would-be assailants.

Any of these situations, alongside others not listed, warrant the need to contact our Charleston negligent security attorneys so that we can take legal action on your behalf or on behalf of someone you know.

Common Places Negligent Security Incidents Happen

Injury or death due to inadequate security can happen anywhere at any time, but here are some of the most common places our office has seen these incidents occur:

• Parking lots or garages
• Restaurants
• Concerts or sporting events
• Shopping malls
• Nightclubs or bars
• Office buildings
• Apartment or condominium buildings
• Schools of all kinds
• Hotels

Dangers of Improper Security

There are so many potential ways that visitors of improperly secured properties can be harmed or injured. Here are some notable ones:

• Slip and fall injuries
• Broken or fractured bones
• Spinal cord injuries
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Physical assaults
• Robberies
• Dog bite injuries
• Sexual assaults
• Accidental drownings

Any injury or incident that occurs on a property can potentially be attributed to negligent security, even if it doesn’t have anything to do with having guards or cameras. For example, keeping a dog properly contained behind a fence or on a leash or having a locked and gated fence around a pool both fall into this category.

West Virginia Property Owner Laws

West Virginia code 55-7-28, also known as the Open and Obvious Doctrine, is a law that protects property owners from liability when a visitor is injured by an open, obvious, and reasonably apparent danger or hazard. This means that clear hazards, such as a broken piece of concrete on a sidewalk or wet pavement after rain, that are obvious and easy to see can just as easily be avoided. Although the property owner may not be held liable for an injury that occurs from a clear hazard, they do have a duty to remedy the danger.

Property owners can be held liable if an injured visitor can prove a distraction as cause for their injury. For example, restaurants often have steps within the building, and even if the floor is clearly marked or painted to alert guests of the steps, the guests could be distracted by live music, changes in lighting, busy servers, or loud patrons.

Why Your Visitor Type Matters

Often, the reason why you were at a property can determine liability for injuries or harm incurred. Your Charleston negligent security lawyer will gather all the information and evidence about the reason for your visit to a property to determine whether you fall into one of the three following categories:

• Invitee: Someone with an express or implied invitation to enter a property, such as a tenant in an apartment complex. The property owner has the highest duty of care to this type of visitor and is legally required to maintain the property regularly to reduce the chance of injury.
• Licensee: Someone who has the property owner’s consent to visit the property but visits for reasons unrelated to business or commercial purposes, like a dinner guest. The property owner also owes this type of visitor some duties of care but is not required by law to search for any risks.
• Trespasser: Someone who enters the property without the property owner’s consent or permission. This type of visitor isn’t owed any duty of care, and the property owner is not legally required to do anything at all, except in the case of children, where the property owner has a legal duty to prevent any foreseeable injury. Swimming pools, for example, should have a fence or other deterrent to prevent accidental drowning.

Knowing your visitor type is vital to recovering compensation for your injuries, as different legal obligations apply to each type of visitor.

Building Your Negligent Security Case

Every premises liability incident is different, but those caused by inadequate security may involve criminal activity or violence, but not always. Our Charleston team of negligent security lawyers has experience with all types of premises liability cases and has successfully recovered compensation for our clients.

Reach out to Forbes Law Offices today for your free consultation. We’re here to help you prove that property owner negligence caused your pain, suffering, and financial damages.