Negligent Security Lawyers in Bend

Negligent Security Lawsuits in Deschutes County, Oregon

Under negligent security law, a private property owner may be held liable if a crime could have been prevented or made less likely to occur if they had taken reasonable measures to secure the premises and keep people safe. Both residential and commercial property owners can be sued for negligent security.

Proving a property owner was negligent involves the concept of “foreseeability.” Most courts will determine foreseeability based on whether or not similar criminal activity had happened before, and the owner knew about it, yet did nothing to reasonably secure the property.

For example: Several carjackings had taken place in a shopping center parking lot over the course of two months.  The last criminal incident resulted in a grievous injury.

In this case, the court will most likely determine that the owner had foreseeable knowledge about the high risk of crime in the area. They may be held liable for the injuries a person suffered as a result of the crime.

However, if there were no previous carjackings, the court will most likely not rule that the owner had foreseeability.

The court will look at a multitude of evidence, including how often police were called to the premises, how much crime had taken place in the past, and the nature of the previous crimes. A negligent security victim can get compensated for medical bills, lost wages, and damages for pain and suffering.