Your Negligent Security Injury Lawyers
Your Christian Law Firm, Dean Burnetti Law represents Personal Injury Victims in Polk County, including: Lakeland, Auburndale, Bartow, Haines City, Lake Wales, Mulberry, Polk City, and Winter Haven; in Hillsborough County, including: Brandon, Tampa, and Plant City; in Pinellas County, including Clearwater, St. Pete, Gulfport, Treasure Island, Largo, Oldsmar; and all of the surrounding Greater Central Florida and West Central Florida Areas.
III John 1:2 - “Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.”
The law requires both business and private property owners to maintain certain safety and security measures which keep their customers, and guests safe. If a client, customer, visitor, or guest is injured or killed because a safety and security protocol was not in place, then the owner of the property or business may be held legally and/or financially liable as a contributing factor to the event which caused the injury or death.
Both business and private property owners have a legal duty to exercise reasonable care in the construction, management, and maintenance of their grounds and/or facilities. Owners may be found guilty of breaching this duty by failing have the property and grounds inspected regularly, by providing a security guard or guards to patrol the area against dangerous conditions, by failing to provide adequate lighting, by failing to repair broken locks, or by installing fences and/or gates that are high enough to prevent dangerous trespassers from sneaking onto the property.
It’s for this reason that Florida Statute §162.21 provides for Code Enforcement. If you’ve ever known someone who’s called had Code Enforcement called on them because they weren’t keeping their yard mowed, the reason that the Code Enforcement officer responded to the call was not because the overgrown yard wasn’t aesthetically pleasing, or that the neighbors’ property values might be affected. (There are Homeowners’ Associations to enforce such things for those reasons.) A Code Enforcement officer responds to such calls and may immediately issue a citation if they have reason to believe that the violation presents a serious threat to public health, safety, or welfare.
Negligent security injury (or death) claims are different than premises liability issues. A premises liability claim would be made by someone who was injured because of something that happens during the course of a normal business day, such as slipping and falling in a restaurant after they stepped on spilled liquid or when a hotel guest suffers an injury after being burned in the shower because of a defective water heater.
Injuries (or death) due to negligent security might include the following:
- Students are harmed when a gunman infiltrates the campus
- Bank patrons are killed during a robbery because the bank guard does not have bullets in his gun
- An Alzheimer’s patient dies of exposure when he sneaks out of a nursing home and gets lost out in the heat or cold for hours
- Some guests leaving a wedding reception are mugged and stabbed by thugs because the lighting in the parking lot is inadequate
- A hotel guest is raped because the perpetrator was allowed to walk by the front desk to the elevator without being questioned
- A new apartment tenant is awakened in the night by a man who is tying her to her bed and proceeds to rape her. She claims the apartment manager was at fault for not warning her the apartments had experienced a great deal of crime in the months prior to her signing a lease.
Almost exclusively, Negligent Security cases involve a third party committing a crime against a guest or invitee of the business or entity who failed to provide adequate security. Thus, if more enhanced security existed, such as increased lighting, an alarm system, higher fences, posted security guards, night patrols, security watch dogs, improved door locks, video surveillance, etc., the odds that a criminal would attempt to commit a crime there would be significantly lowered.
Negligent Security cases are generally more difficult to win than other types of cases where people are injured or killed, because to prove that the Defendant (namely the land owner or business owner) is guilty, it must first be proven that they knew or should have foreseen than the lack of security they provided reasonably led to the crime committed against the Plaintiff or Plaintiff’s Personal Representative.
Psalm 115:16 – “The heavens are the Lord’s heavens, but the earth He has given to the children of man.”
Call (863) 287-6388 in Polk County or (813) 287-6388 in Hillsborough County and Pinellas County today to schedule a free confidential consultation with an attorney at Your Christian Law Firm, Dean Burnetti Law.
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We declare that Jesus Christ is the Lord of all. That the Holy Spirit abides in the midst of all within our halls. That the power of prayer is our shield and sword.
We declare that Christ is the cornerstone of this firm.
LAKELAND OFFICE:
1937 East Edgewood Drive, Suite 102,
Lakeland, Florida 33803
Lakeland: (863) 287-6388
BRANDON OFFICE:
413 Lithia Pinecrest Road,
Brandon, FL 33511
Brandon: (813) 287-6388
ST. PETE OFFICE:
11300 4th Street N., Ste. 140,
St. Petersburg, FL 33716
St. Pete: (813) 287-6388