When you are assaulted, robbed, shot, or otherwise injured because a property lacked reasonable security, the person who committed the crime may not be the only party whose conduct matters. Missouri law can impose responsibilities on businesses and property owners when the circumstances make criminal activity reasonably foreseeable and reasonable precautions could have reduced the risk of harm.
A negligent security claim is a form of premises liability, which is the area of law covering injuries caused by the condition of someone else's property. It requires more than showing that a crime occurred there. The evidence must connect the property's security conditions and the responsible parties' conduct to the injury.
At Sumner Law Group, LLC, we represent seriously injured people throughout St. Louis who are pursuing compensation after preventable criminal attacks and other security-related injuries. Our attorneys prepare cases for litigation from the beginning, investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident, and deal directly with the insurance companies involved.
If you were injured because of inadequate security, call us at (314) 669-0048 for a free case review.
What Is Negligent Security?
Negligent security is a premises liability claim involving injuries caused by criminal or harmful conduct on property where the circumstances may have required reasonable security measures. The issue is not whether an owner could have prevented every crime, but whether the owner knew or had reason to know such conduct was reasonably likely in a particular area, and whether enough time existed to act.
Missouri law specifically addresses a business's responsibility for criminal and harmful acts occurring on its premises. Under Section 537.787, there is no duty upon a business to guard against such conduct unless the business knows or has reason to know that it is occurring or is reasonably likely to occur in a particular area and sufficient time exists to prevent the crime or injury.
That section and Section 537.785 together make up the Business Premises Safety Act. One detail in the definitions carries real weight: a covered person is anyone lawfully on the premises, without regard to whether they are an invitee or a licensee. The old distinction that once decided many premises cases does not control here.
The Act also defines a criminal act by reference to the offenses in chapters 565 through 571 of the Missouri statutes, and it excludes residential and lodging operations from the definition of a business.
If you believe inadequate security contributed to your injury, our St. Louis negligent security lawyers can investigate what the property owner knew, what security measures were in place, and whether additional precautions may have been warranted.
When Can a Property Owner Bear Responsibility for a Criminal Attack?
A property owner is not automatically responsible whenever someone commits a crime on the premises. Missouri courts have recognized that the foreseeability of criminal conduct depends on the facts and circumstances of the particular property and incident.
Evidence that may be key includes:
- Recent criminal incidents on or near the property
- The number and frequency of previous incidents
- How recently those incidents occurred
- Whether previous incidents were similar to the attack involved in the claim
- The location where previous incidents occurred
- The property's layout and characteristics
- Whether management received complaints or warnings
- Whether employees reported security concerns
- Whether the property had security personnel or surveillance
- Whether entrances, exits, parking areas, or other locations presented known risks
- Whether management took steps to address previously identified problems
For example, evidence that management had been warned about repeated assaults in a poorly lit parking area could be relevant to whether another attack was reasonably foreseeable.
Missouri case law has emphasized foreseeability in determining when a duty may arise. In Madden v. C & K Barbecue Carryout, Inc., 758 S.W.2d 59 (Mo. banc 1988), the Missouri Supreme Court examined prior criminal activity and the surrounding circumstances in determining whether a property owner could owe a duty to protect customers from criminal conduct. That decision and the cases following it predate the Business Premises Safety Act, so on business premises the statute now sets the threshold question while the case law continues to inform how prior incidents are weighed.
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Who May Be Liable for a Negligent Security Injury?
Identifying the responsible party is one of the first steps in investigating a negligent security claim. The property owner may not be the only entity involved in controlling, managing, maintaining, or securing the location.
Potentially responsible parties may include:
- Property owners: The owner may have responsibility for security conditions depending on its control of the premises and the circumstances giving rise to the duty.
- Business operators: A company operating a business may have responsibilities separate from those of the property's owner, particularly when it controls security practices.
- Property management companies: A management company may have responsibilities involving maintenance, access control, security procedures, or responding to known problems.
- Security companies: A private security company may become involved when it undertook security responsibilities and its conduct contributed to the injury.
- Employers: A business may bear responsibility for employees whose conduct or omissions contributed to an inadequate security response.
- Other responsible parties: Contracts, leases, security arrangements, and the property's ownership structure may reveal additional parties whose conduct needs to be examined.
Determining who can be held responsible requires more than identifying who owns the building. An investigation may need to establish who controlled the area where the attack occurred, who received complaints, who was responsible for security equipment, and who had authority to address known hazards.
Do not assume the first company you identify is the only potentially responsible party. Our St. Louis negligent security lawyers can investigate the ownership, management, and security relationships surrounding the property.
If you were injured after a property owner failed to address a known security problem, contact Sumner Law Group at (314) 669-0048 so we can examine available records and evidence before they disappear.
Common Security Failures That Can Contribute to Criminal Attacks
Security failures can take different forms. In some cases, the problem is a physical condition such as a broken lock or inadequate lighting. In others, the problem involves a failure to respond after management had information suggesting that additional precautions were warranted.
Inadequate Lighting
Dark parking lots, stairwells, walkways, and entrances can create conditions in which a person is more vulnerable to criminal activity. The condition of the lighting matters as much as its existence, and burned-out fixtures, obstructed lights, or repeated complaints about darkness show whether the property's security conditions were being addressed.
Broken or Missing Locks
A broken lock, propped-open security door, or malfunctioning access-control system becomes significant when the property owner or manager knows about the problem and does not address it.
Records showing maintenance requests, complaints, or previous reports about an unsecured entrance may help establish what the responsible party knew before the incident.
Inadequate Access Control
Some properties require controlled access to protect residents, employees, customers, or guests. Failure to maintain access systems, allowing unauthorized individuals into restricted areas, or failing to monitor entrances may create questions about whether reasonable security procedures were followed. The measures that count as reasonable depend on the property, and an apartment complex, hotel, parking garage, and entertainment venue present very different concerns.
Lack of Security Personnel
The absence of security guards does not automatically establish negligence. Missouri law does not impose a blanket requirement that every business employ security personnel.
The more relevant question is whether the circumstances created a foreseeable risk that called for reasonable precautions. If a property voluntarily undertakes security responsibilities, how those responsibilities are carried out can also become relevant, because Missouri courts have recognized that an assumed duty creates an obligation to exercise reasonable care.
Defective or Poorly Monitored Surveillance
Security cameras can provide evidence of what occurred, but their presence does not mean a property had adequate security. Cameras may be positioned incorrectly, fail to cover important areas, malfunction, or go unmonitored when circumstances call for a response. A prompt request to preserve recordings matters, because some systems automatically overwrite older footage within days.
Failure to Respond to Known Security Problems
A property owner may receive complaints about suspicious activity, broken security equipment, unauthorized access, or prior criminal incidents. If management receives that information and takes no reasonable action, those records establish what the property knew before an injury occurred. Timing matters too, and a problem reported shortly before an attack raises different questions than one documented for months.
How Foreseeability Affects a Negligent Security Claim
Foreseeability is one of the central concepts in Missouri negligent security cases. The question is whether the circumstances gave a reasonable basis to anticipate the type of danger involved and to take reasonable precautions against it.
The analysis turns on timing and location as much as on the count of prior incidents. A crime occurring elsewhere in a large metropolitan area does not automatically establish that an attack was foreseeable at a particular property. Evidence connecting the risk to the property, its surroundings, or a particular area can carry greater significance.
Missouri courts have recognized that the number, timing, nature, and similarity of previous incidents can be relevant to foreseeability, and that the circumstances are examined as a whole rather than treating one prior incident as automatic liability. The claim rests on what the evidence showed before the attack, not on the fact that an attack occurred.
Why St. Louis Injury Clients Choose Sumner Law Group
We built Sumner Law Group around serious personal injury litigation, with more than 50 years of combined legal experience behind it. Our clients communicate directly with their attorneys and receive representation from a firm that prepares cases for the courtroom.
Other attorneys refer complex cases to our firm, reflecting the trust placed in our lawyers by members of the legal community.
Negligent security cases in particular are won or lost on records held by someone else. Incident logs, maintenance requests, security contracts, staffing schedules, and camera retention policies sit with the property owner or its management company, and they are obtained through formal legal process rather than a phone call. We build the file with that in mind from the first week.
There are no upfront attorney fees in our contingency-fee cases. You pay a legal fee only if we recover compensation for you.
FAQs: St. Louis Negligent Security Lawyers
These questions address issues that can arise when an injury occurs during a criminal or harmful act on someone else's property.
Will Sumner Law Group take my negligent security case on a contingency fee?
Our firm handles qualifying serious personal injury cases on a contingency-fee basis, meaning you do not pay upfront attorney fees and we receive a fee only if we recover compensation for you. We review the facts, injuries, evidence, and potential sources of liability before deciding whether the case is one we can take on.
How long do I have to file a St. Louis negligent security claim?
Missouri generally allows five years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim, under Section 516.120. If the attack caused a death, a wrongful death claim runs three years from the date of death under Section 537.100. Evidence in these cases disappears far sooner than either deadline, so the practical timeline is much shorter.
What happens if multiple parties may be responsible for my injuries?
More than one party may potentially have legal responsibility when different businesses or individuals played roles in maintaining, managing, leasing, or securing the property. We examine the relationships between those parties, the available evidence, and applicable Missouri law to determine which claims and insurance coverage may apply.
What if the property owner says it had reasonable security measures?
That is an affirmative defense, meaning the business carries the burden of proving it rather than simply asserting it. Missouri recognizes three under Section 537.787 when the statutory duty applies: that the business implemented reasonable security measures, that the claimant was a trespasser or was attempting or committing a felony, and that the criminal acts occurred while the business was closed. Each one has to be established on the facts.
Can I bring a claim if I was visiting someone at an apartment complex?
You may be able to bring a claim, but the circumstances matter. The Business Premises Safety Act covers a person lawfully on business premises and excludes residential and lodging operations from its definition of a business, so other premises liability principles may apply to a residential property.
What if the property had security cameras that did not record the attack?
The absence of usable footage does not automatically end a potential claim. Other evidence, including witness accounts, police records, prior incidents, photographs, security policies, maintenance records, and evidence about the condition of the property, may still help establish what occurred and what the property owner knew.
Contact Sumner Law Group After a St. Louis Negligent Security Injury
A criminal attack may look like an isolated event when viewed only from the moment it happened. Our job is to look backward at the property, its security practices, prior warnings, available records, and what the owner or operator knew before the injury occurred.
Sumner Law Group is a St. Louis trial-first personal injury firm that handles serious negligent security claims with direct attorney involvement and detailed preparation. Our St. Louis negligent security lawyers charge no upfront attorney fees, and you do not pay legal fees unless we secure compensation for you. Call us at (314) 669-0048 for a free case review.