Lawrence M. Simon - New Jersey Negligent Security Attorney
If you or anyone in your family has suffered serious or fatal injuries in a violent crime that could have been prevented with proper security measures,
a North Jersey premises security liability lawyer at the Law Offices of Lawrence M. Simon.
When a crime is committed in a place such as an apartment building, retail center parking lot, office building, hotel, or other facility that provides security services for its patrons or tenants, a breakdown in the property owner's security system not only can encourage criminal activity, it can also result in the property owner's liability to the crime victim for negligence.
Our New Jersey premises liability attorneys will analyze the circumstances of your injury to see what private patrols, surveillance cameras, and on site monitors did or didn't do to protect you from attack. We work with law enforcement and perform our own investigation to determine whether inadequate security played a role in the events leading up to the crime. We'll also see whether past incidents at this location, or in the surrounding area, should have put the property owner on notice that its building or parking facilities were potentially dangerous to customers or visitors.
Shoppers, apartment tenants, hotel guests, and other citizens should not pay the heavy price of victimization due to a false sense of security fostered by a property owner or private security service. Bergen County negligent security lawyer Lawrence M. Simon will examine the hiring and staffing practices, cameras and lighting, monitoring equipment, and security policies of the property owner in order to establish its liability. We will also make a thorough analysis and presentation of your damages so that every component of your loss is considered for proper compensation. **********************************************************************************
Does our Village give the appearance of having licensed security?
1. We advertise on our web page our Village is a gated community.
2. Do the type of uniforms worn by our monitoring staff visually imply their authority as security?
3. Will this perception increase when this monitoring staff is seen screening people entering our gated facility?
4. Will this magnify when this uniformed staff are seen patrolling and enforcing the rules of our facility?
5. When Village management say they have installed security cameras, who is monitoring them? Security?
6. Adding fuel to the fire are the any times those in charge have addressed our monitoring staff as security. Just in our last LIV newsletter, the Security blotter mentioned twice that "Security was reported to".
Are these actions creating the illusion?
I believe most renters who pass through our "security base" would feel we have a real security staff operating. Have we gone in the wrong direction just to save a few bucks? How can we help our non-licensed management with no proven background in managing a security staff keep us out of harms way?
Have management taken the proper steps to insure our Village is as safe as possible? I think not.
It doesn't matter whether we contract with a new license security company or keeps it in house. The ultimate responsiblity of security falls on the owners of our Village.
The information below provides some good practical insight and gives proven procedural guidelines to follow. Being more proactive protecting our Village will payoff in the long run.
Texas Security
In order to work as a security officer for pay in the State of Texas you must be employed by a licensed security services contractor (security company) Your security company must license you as a non-commissioned or commissioned security officer. You are required to be registered with the state regulatory agency- The Texas Department of Public Safety-Private Security Bureau. Even if you are classified as in-house security and work for no one other than your employer, this regulation still applies to you. The private employer that you work for must have a “Letter of Authority” issued to a “Private Business” and they will still license you with the above listed regulatory agency. Same as if you were working for a Security Company.
The most critical errors made when managing a security program?
A major error is the failure of owners and managers to effectively and consistently supervise the security program. This results in gradual deterioration of the program and creates additional and significant liability issues, frequently exceeding the original liability risk.
A second crucial error is providing the illusion of security that does not in fact exist. One illusion is accomplished by overstating verbally or visually the security measures in effect and the use of dummy or non-operable equipment such as CCTV cameras.
What is our liability if we have a management company who is responsible for association matters?
While a management company may be responsible for managing your facility, the ultimate responsibility for premises liability issues cannot be transferred to the management company. The decision in Rockwell vs. Sun Harbor Budget Suites, 925 P.2d 1175 (Nevada 1996) held that the property owner could outsource the performance of security related tasks but not the ultimate responsibility for providing a reasonably safe and security housing environment.
Whose Job Is It ?
Unfortunately, managers believe that by contracting with a security service provider, they are reducing or even eliminating their liability for providing adequate security. In Dupree v. Piggly Wiggly Shop Rite Food, Inc., (Texas, 1952), the court found that the usual independent contractor relationship would not relieve property owners and managers from liability because they had a nontransferable duty to provide a safe facility environment.
No matter what training our Management has done with our staff, the following should be followed.
1. Additional training should include patrol techniques and procedures, visitor and vehicle access control, crime prevention, incident report preparation, physical security equipment and inspections, hazardous material response, company and property policies, fire prevention and suppression, use of force, basic emergency first aid procedures, reporting incidents to emergency services, and interpersonal relations specifically designed to meet the requirements of the property. Sounds a little complicated? It is and training should be done regularly.
2. Have A Security Audit. The local police or independent security agencies will often conduct a security audit of the premises, pointing out potential areas of weakness. The association facility that has such an audit performed and then complies with the recommendations made is in a good position, from a liability standpoint; if anyone later claims that an injury or theft resulted from a lack of security precautions. The audit demonstrates due diligence on the part of the association. These audits are often conducted free of charge, but are well worth any fee that may be required.
3. Do not allow management to decide what adequate performance is. It is similar to allowing employees to set their own performance standards and evaluations. It should be our Board’s responsibility to identify minimum performance standards and continually evaluate and demand compliance with these identified standards.
What are the actions necessary to develop a comprehensive security protection program for the housing association?
The security protection program is developed in the following manner:
A risk assessment is conducted to identify the potential crime factors affecting the property and the neighborhood.
Based on the collection of this information, appropriate countermeasures are recommended to the governing body of the association.
A business decision is made on the countermeasures to be adopted and the priority of their implementation.
Strategies are developed for the implementation and enforcement of association security policies and procedures.
The Benefits of Quality
The cost of providing adequate security services can be recovered in often overlooked ways. Obviously, the most significant, but unquantifiable, offset is a reduction in the costs of defending civil actions by proving the level of security was adequate for the circumstances. The cost of lawsuit prevention is extremely difficult to identify on a profit and loss statement. However, over time, it can be measured in some degree by the reduction of legal expenses.
If the Association has instituted reasonable and appropriate security measures, what are the chances for success when defending a negligent security claim?
In their study, Bates and Groussman reported that the defendant was successful in over 52 percent of the cases where reasonable and appropriate security measures were in effect.
The intent for this article is to merely address the possible liabilities being created and give the information found to put our Village in a better position. If anyone wishes to add to this concern please leave a comment.
The majority of the information above was obtained from Blake & Associates, Inc.
A full service firm specializing in security consulting and investigative support to business management and the legal profession. Statewide Patrol, Inc. also was used.
