What is Negligent Security?
Negligent security falls under premises liability law in Texas. It refers to situations where a property owner or manager fails to provide reasonable security measures, resulting in harm to someone on the property. This might include physical attacks, sexual assaults, robberies, or shootings that could have been prevented with proper precautions.
Under Texas law, property owners have a legal duty to provide a reasonably safe environment for guests, tenants, and visitors. When they breach this duty and someone is injured or killed as a result, the victim—or their family—may have a valid negligent security claim.
It happens every day. You turn on the news and hear a report about someone being attacked in a hotel parking lot, shot at an apartment complex or assaulted in a dimly lit stairwell. These tragedies don’t just happen—they’re often the result of negligent security.
Property owners who fail to take reasonable steps to protect tenants, customers, or guests from foreseeable dangers can and should be held accountable. At Varghese Summersett, our Texas negligent security lawyers stand up for victims whose lives have been shattered by crimes that could have—and should have—been prevented.
If you or a loved one has sustained injuries or died due to a preventable crime or dangerous condition on someone else’s property, a negligent security lawyer at Varghese Summersett can help you pursue justice and compensation. In this article, we explain what negligent security is, how it happens, who can be held accountable, and how our team can help.
For a free consultation, call Varghese Summersett at 817-203-2220. We have offices in Fort Worth, Dallas, Houston, and Southlake.
How Negligent Security Accidents Happen
Negligent security accidents occur when property owners or managers fail to implement reasonable safety measures that could prevent foreseeable harm. These failures create an environment where violent crimes or dangerous incidents are more likely to occur. In Texas, property owners owe a legal duty to protect visitors from known or reasonably foreseeable dangers—including criminal acts by third parties.
Common Locations Where Negligent Security Incidents Occur
Negligent security incidents can occur anywhere, but they are particularly common in areas with high foot traffic and minimal security oversight. These include:
- Apartment Complexes: Tenants expect their homes to be safe. Yet, many complexes have broken locks, malfunctioning gates, or poorly lit stairwells and parking lots. When management ignores previous crimes or tenant complaints, it increases the risk of assaults, robberies, or worse.
- Hotels and Motels: Visitors often assume hotels are secure. But when staff fail to screen guests, monitor security footage, or secure access to guest-only areas, intruders can exploit these weaknesses—leading to theft, sexual assaults, or violent attacks.
- Nightclubs and Bars: These establishments can become chaotic, especially at closing time. Without proper crowd control, security staff, or emergency response plans, fights, stabbings, or shootings can erupt—putting patrons at risk.
- Parking Lots and Garages: Isolated and poorly monitored parking areas are common scenes for muggings, assaults, or carjackings. When property owners fail to install cameras or ensure adequate lighting and patrols, they may be responsible for the harm that follows.
- Hospitals, Schools, and Public Institutions: These places often have open-door policies but lack the necessary safeguards to monitor who comes and goes. Without adequate check-ins, ID verification, or emergency alert systems, they can become targets for violent individuals.
Conditions That Lead to Negligent Security
Negligent security isn’t just about where it happens—it’s about why it happens. These incidents are often the result of specific failures, such as:
- Inadequate Lighting: Dimly lit walkways, stairwells, or parking areas can conceal assailants and create unsafe conditions, especially at night.
- Lack of Surveillance Systems: Security cameras serve as both a deterrent and a tool for identifying suspects. Their absence—or non-functionality—invites criminal activity.
- Broken Locks or Gates: Whether it’s a keypad entrance to an apartment complex or a malfunctioning gate to a hotel parking lot, these failures allow unauthorized individuals access to private spaces.
- No Trained Security Personnel: In high-risk environments like bars or event venues, the lack of trained security staff can allow situations to escalate quickly without intervention.
- Failure to Address Past Crimes: Under Texas law, foreseeability is key. If a property has a history of violent incidents and no corrective measures are taken, the owner may be held liable for future crimes that occur under similar circumstances.
Real-World Examples of Negligent Security
- Apartment Assault in Fort Worth
Imagine an apartment complex in Fort Worth with a known history of break-ins and assaults. Tenants have submitted complaints about the broken front gate and repeated trespassers. Management ignores the reports and does nothing. One night, a resident is assaulted in the parking lot by someone who entered through the unrepaired gate. In this case, the attack wasn’t just tragic—it was preventable. And under Texas law, the property owner could be held civilly liable for negligent security. - Hotel Assault in Dallas
A woman checks into a hotel in Dallas while traveling for business. The side entrance door, meant to be accessible only by keycard, is broken and left unsecured for days. The hotel has no security personnel, and the surveillance cameras covering that entrance have been out of order for months—something staff were aware of. One night, an intruder enters through the side door and assaults the woman in the hallway outside her room. Because the hotel failed to repair known security defects and provide even basic safeguards, the victim may have grounds for a negligent security claim under Texas premises liability law. - Parking Garage Shooting in Houston
A man leaves work late in downtown Houston and walks to his car in a multi-level parking garage owned by a private company. The garage has poor lighting, no active surveillance, and no security patrols, despite repeated reports of car break-ins and suspicious activity. As the man approaches his vehicle, he is robbed at gunpoint and shot. The garage owner had received numerous complaints but failed to act. Because the crime was foreseeable and preventable, the property owner could be held liable for negligent security.
Common Injuries in Negligent Security Cases
Negligent security cases often arise from violent crimes such as assaults, robberies, shootings, or sexual attacks. These incidents can lead to a wide range of serious injuries—both physical and psychological—that may require extensive medical care, long-term treatment, or even result in permanent disability or death.
Physical Injuries
Victims of negligent security accidents frequently suffer severe physical trauma, including:
- Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs): Caused by blunt force trauma during an assault or fall. TBIs can lead to memory loss, cognitive impairment, or lifelong disability.
- Broken Bones: Assaults and falls during attacks can result in fractures to arms, legs, ribs, or facial bones, often requiring surgeries and physical therapy.
- Stab Wounds or Gunshot Injuries: These are among the most devastating and life-threatening injuries seen in negligent security cases, frequently occurring in apartment complexes, parking lots, or nightclubs with inadequate protection.
- Internal Organ Damage: Violent attacks can lead to internal bleeding or damage to vital organs, which may require emergency surgery and long-term hospitalization.
Psychological Trauma
Even when physical injuries heal, the emotional and psychological scars from a negligent security incident can last for years. Common psychological injuries include:
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Victims may relive the attack through nightmares or flashbacks, avoid the location where it occurred, or experience severe emotional distress.
- Anxiety and Depression: These often develop after traumatic incidents, affecting the victim’s ability to work, socialize, or carry out daily life activities.
- Sleep Disorders: Insomnia, night terrors, or disrupted sleep patterns are common among individuals who have survived violent encounters.
- Panic Attacks: Victims may suffer sudden, intense episodes of fear or dread, often triggered by reminders of the incident.
These injuries—whether visible or invisible—can disrupt every aspect of a person’s life. That’s why pursuing compensation with the help of an experienced negligent security lawyer is so important. At Varghese Summersett, we work to ensure victims are fully compensated not only for their physical injuries but also for the emotional toll these crimes take.
Wrongful Death
In the most tragic cases, negligent security can lead to death. Under the Texas Wrongful Death Act (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 71.002), surviving family members—including spouses, children, and parents—can pursue a claim for compensation, including:
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Loss of companionship and support
- Mental anguish
- Lost earning capacity of the deceased
At Varghese Summersett, our negligent security lawyers have extensive experience handling wrongful death. We understand the immense pain and devastation that comes with losing a loved one to something that should never have occurred.
Our team works tirelessly to hold negligent property owners accountable and to secure the maximum compensation allowed under Texas law. While no amount of money can replace your loss, pursuing justice can provide closure and financial security during an unimaginably difficult time. If your family has suffered due to negligent security, we are here to stand with you and fight for the justice your loved one deserves.
Does Negligent Security Always Involve a Crime?
Negligent security cases almost always involve criminal acts, but the heart of the legal claim is about the failure to prevent those crimes—not the crime itself. The core issue is whether a property owner or manager failed to take reasonable precautions to protect people from foreseeable harm.
For example, if someone is mugged in a poorly lit apartment complex that had prior incidents of similar attacks, the property owner may be liable for negligent security. Even though the crime was committed by a third party, the owner’s failure to provide adequate lighting, cameras, or security patrols may have created the conditions for that crime to happen.
However, not every injury involving poor security rises to the level of negligent security under Texas law. There must usually be some form of violent or criminal conduct—such as assault, robbery, sexual assault, or shooting—that was reasonably foreseeable and preventable with proper security measures.
So while negligent security claims are civil cases, they nearly always stem from a preventable criminal act.
Who Can Be Held Liable for Negligent Security?
Multiple parties may share liability depending on the circumstances. These include:
- Property Owners: Owners of businesses, apartment complexes, and commercial spaces can be liable for failing to maintain a safe environment.
- Property Managers: If they’re responsible for day-to-day operations and fail to address known risks, they may be held accountable.
- Security Companies: Contracted security firms may be liable if their employees acted negligently or failed to follow protocol.
- Employers: If a business fails to train staff or ignores threats to employee safety, it may be held responsible under a negligent security claim.
- Liability hinges on foreseeability. If there was a history of crime or previous complaints, and the owner took no steps to mitigate risks, they can be found negligent under Texas law.
Types of Compensation in Negligent Security Cases
Victims of negligent security—or their surviving family members in wrongful death cases—may be entitled to significant financial compensation. Under Texas law, these damages typically fall into three categories: economic, non-economic, and punitive.
Economic Damages
These are quantifiable financial losses resulting from the incident, including:
- Medical Expenses: Costs for emergency care, surgeries, hospital stays, medications, therapy, and long-term rehabilitation—both past and future.
- Lost Wages: Income lost while recovering from injuries.
- Loss of Earning Capacity: If the injury impacts the victim’s ability to work in the future.
- Funeral and Burial Costs: In wrongful death cases, these immediate out-of-pocket expenses are recoverable.
Non-Economic Damages
These compensate for the emotional and psychological toll of the incident, such as:
- Pain and Suffering: Physical pain and emotional distress experienced as a result of the injury.
- Disfigurement and Disability: For permanent injuries, scarring, or loss of function.
- Loss of Consortium: Impact on relationships with a spouse or family members due to the victim’s injuries or death.
- Mental Anguish: Especially in wrongful death claims, survivors may be compensated for emotional suffering and grief.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are designed to punish especially reckless or egregious behavior and to deter others from similar conduct. In Texas, these damages are limited by statute under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 41.008, which generally caps punitive awards at the greater of:
$200,000, or
twice the amount of economic damages plus an equal amount of non-economic damages (up to $750,000).
Punitive damages may be available in negligent security cases where the property owner knew of serious security risks and willfully ignored them, putting others in clear danger.
How a Negligent Security Lawyer Can Help
An experienced negligent security lawyer from Varghese Summersett can be a critical ally. Our legal team will:
- Gather Evidence: We gather surveillance footage, police reports, prior incident logs, maintenance records, and witness statements to build a solid case.
- Determine Liability: By identifying every potentially liable party, we ensure you receive the maximum possible compensation.
- Handle Insurance Companies: Our founder worked as an insurance adjuster. We know the tactics insurers use to deny or devalue claims—and how to beat them.
- Negotiate or Litigate Aggressively: Whether through negotiation or trial, our trial-tested personal injury lawyers, led by Ty Stimpson, know how to fight for justice and results.
- Offer Compassionate, Client-Focused Service: We understand the trauma you’re experiencing. Our team provides not just legal representation, but also support and guidance every step of the way.
With offices in Fort Worth, Dallas, Southlake, and Houston, we are positioned to serve clients throughout Texas with tenacity and compassion.
Speak to a Negligent Security Lawyer Today
If you or a loved one has been the victim of a crime due to negligent security, don’t wait. Texas has a two-year statute of limitations on personal injury claims. Prompt action is crucial to preserve evidence and build the strongest case possible.
Call our Fort Worth office at 817-203-2220, our Dallas office at 214-903-4000, our Southlake office at 817-415-1575, or our Houston office at 281-805-2220. You can also reach us through our website at versustexas.com.
At Varghese Summersett, we’re not afraid to go toe-to-toe with negligent property owners and big insurance companies. We’ve recovered millions for victims, and we’re ready to help you get the justice and compensation you deserve.
