NCJ Number
170883
Journal
Trial Volume: 33 Issue: 8 Dated: (August 1997) Pages: 52-57
Date Published
1997
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Many courts have held that business owners and management companies in shopping centers have a duty to take reasonable measures to protect patrons where criminal acts on the premises are foreseeable.
Abstract
Neighborhood shopping centers are managed by owners and/or professional property managers who are usually aware of the history of criminal activity on the premises. Both professional property managers and shopping center owners are proper defendants in liability cases. Even so, negligent security cases are difficult to evaluate according to typical negligence principles. Concepts of duty, breach, and consequent damages are not well-suited in analyzing third-party liability for violent crime. Duty and negligence amounting to a breach are generally less difficult issues for the plaintiff's case. Proximate causation, however, is more difficult because it includes both foreseeability and preventability concepts. Procedures associated with proving foreseeability and preventability are examined, and the importance of evaluating security needs by shopping center managers is emphasized. 16 notes and 1 photograph