Massachusetts Personal Injury Library
Who Pays the Bill for Inadequate Mall Security? (Part A)
Lawsuits arise when inadequate mall security is tied to violent crimes that cause injury. With so many retail spaces vacant and consumer spending down nationwide, shopping center and store managements may well be downsizing-and public safety at your mall might be suffering the consequences.
Suspicions that mall security reductions are made just to save money can add insult to your injuries. If you are the victim of a physical assault in a store, mall vestibule, public area, warehouse, or parking garage on shopping center property, you may be able to sue certain responsible parties other than your attacker.
The courts may be sympathetic to your injuries sustained in a shooting, mugging or sexual assault on commercial property as a bona fide customer. They are becoming less and less tolerant of violent criminals, especially those who force sexual assaults or abductions. Criminal trials will likely bring such offenders to justice. Assault with a firearm carries serious penalties. Rape sentences can be a decade or more in some states.
Whatever the offense, you’ll be relieved and satisfied when they put your attacker in jail. Mall managers will be glad that the criminal is out of action and no longer draining their profits. But who will pay your medical bills and other expenses? Civil court offers you, as a crime victim, a way to rebuild your life after your violent incident on mall property.
How Budgets Affect Mall Security
Increases in surveillance camera installation in malls in recent years have attempted to keep up with rising crime rates. Now, however, as security budgets shrink along with the economy, theft is on the rise again, stronger than ever. Small changes in safety measures could mean large jumps in violent crime at mall ATMs, in dark parking garages and in plain sight in mall stores.
If you’ve been the victim of crime at a mall, you should consult with a personal injury attorney that specializes in premises liability in Boston, Massachusetts. It is important that the lawyer has handled these types of cases and that the attorney understands the complex issues involved in this type of case.
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