If you were hurt in an assault, robbery, or other violent crime on someone else’s property, you may have legal options against more than just the person who attacked you. When a property owner fails to take reasonable steps to protect visitors from foreseeable criminal acts, an experienced negligent security lawyer can help you hold that owner accountable for what happened to you.
At Friedman Law Offices, we have represented injured Nebraskans since 1962. Our Lincoln-based firm handles personal injury claims across the state, including complex premises liability cases that arise when a business, landlord, or property manager fails to provide the security its visitors deserve.
This page covers what negligent security is, how it differs from other premises liability claims, how Nebraska law treats these cases, what evidence matters, what compensation may be available, and how a lawyer can help you move forward. If you’ve been injured, contact us today.
What Is Negligent Security?
Negligent security is a type of premises liability claim. It arises when a property owner, business operator, or property manager fails to take reasonable security measures, and a visitor is injured as a result of a foreseeable criminal act.
The defendant in a negligent security case is the property owner, not the criminal who committed the act. A property owner has a legal duty to take reasonable steps to keep lawful visitors safe. When the owner knew, or should have known, that violent crime was a real risk on the property and took no meaningful action to address it, the owner may share legal responsibility for what happened.
What counts as reasonable security depends on the property. Examples include:
- Working Locks and Access Control: Apartment buildings and hotels are expected to maintain functional door locks, secure entry points, and, where appropriate, intercom or key-fob systems.
- Functional Lighting: Parking lots, garages, walkways, and stairwells should be well-lit enough that visitors can see if anyone is nearby.
- Security Cameras: Cameras don’t prevent every crime, but their presence often deters it, and footage is often the most important evidence after an incident.
- Trained Security Staff: Bars, nightclubs, large hotels, and high-risk retail locations may be expected to have guards on duty during peak hours.
- Prompt Repair of Broken Equipment: A broken lock, dead camera, or burned-out light that’s been ignored for weeks is a sign of a deeper failure.
Negligent Security vs. General Premises Liability: What’s the Difference?
Both fall under the same area of law, but they involve different kinds of harm.
General premises liability covers injuries caused by the physical condition of a property. Slip-and-fall accidents, broken stairs, falling objects, and dog bites are common examples. The owner is responsible for keeping the property itself reasonably safe.
Negligent security is the subset of premises liability that involves harm caused by a third party committing a crime. The injury comes from a person, not a hazard. The legal question is whether the property owner should have foreseen the criminal act and taken reasonable steps to prevent it.
The legal process is similar, but the evidence is different. A slip-and-fall case focuses on maintenance practices and the condition of the property. A negligent security case focuses on prior crime, the owner’s security measures, and what reasonable steps the owner failed to take.
Common Types of Negligent Security Cases in Nebraska
Negligent security claims can arise from many types of violent crime. Some of the most common situations we see include:
- Assault and Battery: Fights and attacks at bars, nightclubs, restaurants, and entertainment venues, particularly when security was understaffed or absent.
- Sexual Assault: Survivors of sexual assault may have claims against apartment complexes, hotels, parking facilities, or workplaces that failed to provide reasonable safety measures.
- Robbery and Armed Robbery: Attacks at gas stations, convenience stores, ATMs, and late-night retail locations, especially in areas with a known crime history.
- Shootings and Stabbings: Violent incidents at nightclubs, large events, retail centers, and apartment complexes.
- Carjackings and Parking-Lot Attacks: Incidents in dimly lit or unmonitored parking garages and lots.
- Wrongful Death: Cases where a loved one did not survive the attack. Wrongful death claims follow a different statute of limitations than other personal injury claims, so acting quickly is important.
In Lincoln, these incidents can happen at apartment complexes near the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, hotels along O Street and Cornhusker Highway, parking garages in downtown Lincoln, and bars and entertainment venues in the Haymarket District.
Where the incident happened often shapes the legal analysis, because the standard of reasonable security depends on the type of property and what’s been happening in the area.
How Nebraska Law Handles Negligent Security Claims
Negligent security is a form of negligence under Nebraska law. To recover, an injured person generally must show four things: the property owner owed a duty of care, the owner breached that duty, the breach caused the harm, and real damages resulted.
Duty of Care
Property owners owe a duty of reasonable care to lawful visitors. The exact level of duty depends on whether the visitor was an invitee (someone there for the owner’s benefit, such as a hotel guest or shopper), a licensee (a social guest), or a trespasser. Tenants, paying customers, and invited guests are owed the highest level of care.
Foreseeability
Foreseeability is usually the central question. Nebraska courts consider whether the property owner knew or should have known that a criminal act was reasonably likely given the circumstances. Factors include prior similar crimes on or near the property, the nature of the location, the type of business, and the totality of the circumstances. A property in an area with a documented pattern of violent incidents is held to a higher security standard than one in an area with no such history.
Comparative Negligence
Nebraska follows a modified comparative negligence rule under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-21,185.09. If you are found partially at fault, your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault. If you are found 50 percent or more at fault, you recover nothing. A defense attorney may argue you contributed to what happened. Pushing back against that argument is one of the most important things a lawyer does in these cases.
Statute of Limitations
Nebraska’s general personal injury statute of limitations is four years from the date of injury under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-207. Wrongful death claims must be filed within two years of the date of death under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-810. These deadlines are strict, and evidence can disappear long before they expire. Statutes can change, so the current Nebraska Revised Statutes should always be checked.
Punitive Damages
Nebraska does not allow punitive damages in civil cases. The Nebraska Constitution directs that civil penalties be deposited into the state’s school fund instead. This means an injured person can seek compensation for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other losses, but Nebraska law does not provide for a separate punitive award.
What Types of Evidence Are Needed for a Negligent Security Claim?
Strong negligent security cases are built on documented evidence that the property owner knew about the risk and failed to act. The types of evidence that matter most include:
- Prior Crime History: Police reports, calls for service, and crime statistics for the property and the surrounding area can show what the owner knew or should have known.
- Security Camera Footage: Footage of the incident itself, and of camera gaps where there should have been coverage, is often the single most important piece of evidence.
- Lighting and Physical Security Records: Maintenance logs that show whether lights, locks, and access controls were functioning at the time can make or break a case.
- Security Staffing Records: Whether guards were scheduled, where they were stationed, and what training they had received.
- Prior Tenant or Guest Complaints: Written complaints to management about safety concerns the owner failed to address are powerful evidence of notice.
- Industry Standards: What reasonable security looks like for that type of property, drawn from hotel industry guidelines, apartment management standards, and security design principles.
- Expert-Witness Analysis: A qualified security consultant can evaluate whether the property’s measures met the standard of care.
- Medical Records and Police Reports: Documentation of the injury, the criminal investigation, and the immediate aftermath.
Evidence in these cases can disappear quickly. Security footage is often overwritten within days or weeks. Witnesses move, and their memories fade. Repairs and renovations can change the scene. Contacting a lawyer early gives an investigator time to preserve what matters before it’s gone.
What Types of Compensation May Be Available?
Every case is different, and no lawyer can promise a specific outcome. Depending on the facts, an injured person may be entitled to compensation for:
- Medical Expenses: Emergency care, hospitalization, surgery, follow-up treatment, and rehabilitation. Lincoln-area trauma destinations include Bryan Medical Center, CHI Health St. Elizabeth, and Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital, which handles many catastrophic injury cases in the region.
- Future Medical Care: Long-term treatment, ongoing therapy, and expected future procedures.
- Lost Wages and Lost Earning Capacity: Income lost during recovery and any reduction in your ability to earn going forward.
- Pain and Suffering: The physical pain and emotional toll of the injury.
- Emotional Distress and Counseling: Many survivors of violent crime develop post-traumatic stress, depression, or anxiety, and treatment costs can be part of the claim.
- Loss of Enjoyment of Life: The impact on your ability to do the things you used to do.
- Wrongful Death Damages: In cases where a loved one did not survive, families may seek the pecuniary loss to the next of kin.
How a Negligent Security Lawyer in Lincoln Can Help
Negligent security cases are some of the most fact-intensive claims in personal injury law. The work that goes into building one of these claims typically includes:
- Investigating Before Evidence Disappears: Requesting and preserving security footage, pulling police records for the property, and documenting the physical scene.
- Identifying Every Responsible Party: The owner, the property management company, a separate security contractor, or a parent corporation may all share responsibility, and each may carry separate insurance.
- Working With Qualified Security Consultants: These consultants can evaluate whether the property’s measures meet the standard of care for its type and location.
- Handling the Insurance Companies: Property and commercial liability insurers often aggressively resist these claims. Having a lawyer between you and them lets you focus on recovery.
- Building the Legal Case: Whether the matter is resolved through settlement or filed in Lancaster County District Court or another appropriate venue, the goal is the same: a clear, evidence-backed claim that fully accounts for what happened to you.
Friedman Law Offices has handled personal injury and premises liability cases for Nebraskans for decades. We can investigate what happened, work to help ensure evidence is preserved, and fight for the compensation you may be entitled to.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Long Do I Have to File a Negligent Security Claim in Nebraska?
Generally, you have four years from the date of the injury for a personal injury claim, and two years from the date of death for a wrongful death claim. These deadlines are firm. Waiting also makes it harder to preserve security footage and other key evidence, so acting early matters even when the deadline is still far off.
Can I Sue if the Person Who Attacked Me Was Never Caught?
Yes. A negligent security case is brought against the property owner, not the person who committed the crime. You don’t need to identify or sue the attacker to have a valid claim, and these cases often move forward even when the criminal investigation goes nowhere.
What if the Property Owner Says They Had No Idea This Could Happen?
That defense is common, and it’s almost always a question of evidence rather than just words. Prior police reports, complaints from tenants or guests, crime statistics for the area, and similar incidents at the property can all show that the owner should have foreseen the risk. The standard isn’t whether the owner expected the exact incident, but whether they should have anticipated this kind of harm.
Can I Bring a Claim if I was a Guest at an Apartment, not a Tenant?
Generally, yes. Property owners owe a duty of reasonable care to lawful visitors, which includes tenants’ invited guests. The specific duty may vary based on your status on the property, but you don’t have to be on the lease to have a claim.
What’s the Difference Between Suing the Criminal and Suing the Property Owner?
A criminal case is brought by the state to punish the offender. A negligent security civil case is brought by the injured person to recover monetary damages from the property owner whose failures contributed to the crime. The two are separate, and the outcome of one does not control the other.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Negligent Security Lawyer at Friedman Law Offices?
Friedman Law Offices offers free consultations, so there’s no cost to talk with us about your situation. You don’t pay us anything unless we get money for you. We can walk you through your options and explain what we can do, all at no charge.
Contact a Lincoln Negligent Security Lawyer Today
If you were hurt because a property owner failed to provide the security you deserved, you have options. Friedman Law Offices has stood up for injured Nebraskans since 1962, and we can help you understand what happened, what your case may be worth, and what to do next.
Our premises liability lawyers are here to help. If you’ve been injured, contact us for a free consultation. There’s no obligation, and you don’t pay us anything unless we get money for you.