February 28, 2001

Premises Security Liability: A Guide for Business Owners

Michael Hodge
Security Liability Consulting, L.L.C.
www.SecLiabConsult.com

For businesses owners and security personnel alike, premises security liability becomes a growing concern.  Premises security litigation is one of the fastest growing areas of tort liability.

Definition

Premise's security liability comes about when a landlord or security force breaches its duty to protect invitees of the business.  The end result is that of harm or death to the invitee. 

Duty

Section 344 of the Restatement (Second) says it best:

A possessor of land who holds it open to the public for entry for his business

            purposes is subject to liability to members of the public while they are upon

            the land for such a purpose, for physical harm caused by the accidental,

            negligent , or intentionally harmful acts of third persons or animals, and by

            the failure of the possessor to exercise reasonable care to:

            (a) discover that such acts are being done or are likely to be done, or

            (b) give a warning adequate to enable the visitors to avoid the harm,

                  or otherwise to protect them against it.

Note: Not all states follow the Restatement (Second).

Damages

Damages in premises security cases are quite substantial.  It is estimated that the average settlement for a premise security liability case is somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.2 million dollars.  Additional, jury verdicts have reached in the 2.2 million dollar range.

Areas of Concern for business owners

Many premises security suits involve the following areas:

Inadequate security personnel

Inadequate lighting

Non-operable equipment

Faulty equipment

Promised security when there is no security( Brochures and advertisements promising security)

Negligent retention and training of security personnel

Immediate Steps to Take

There are two immediate things that a business can do to protect themselves and to reduce their liability.  

Security Survey

Businesses should seek the assistance of a security professional to survey their property.  A proper survey report will identify any risks and threats to the owners property.  A proper survey will consist of a crime analysis of the area.  

Crime analysis is always useful as it will identify any trends or movement of crime.  It will also assist in determining the foreseeability of crime for a particular area.

Security Training

Second, businesses should provide adequate training to its security staff.  Training should be designed   to make them aware of not only their security functions, but their duties as proscribed by the law as well as contracts.

Conclusion

An “ounce of prevention” goes a long way.