Miami-Dade’s 2023 violent-crime rate was 191.2 per 100,000, higher than Florida’s 150.7 statewide rate, according to FDLE-based county reporting updated in March 2025; the FBI also reported double-digit national drops in 2024 for robbery and aggravated assault, showing why site-specific prevention still matters even as overall numbers fall.
If you or a family member were hurt at an apartment complex, hotel, bar, or shopping center, Florida law may allow a negligent security claim against the owner or operator when reasonable precautions would likely have deterred the attack. Request a free evaluation in English or Spanish through this page.
What is a negligent security claim in Florida?
Negligent security is a premises-liability claim alleging that a property owner failed to take reasonable measures to protect lawful visitors from foreseeable criminal acts. Florida ties both duty and legal cause to foreseeability, a framework the Supreme Court explained in McCain v. Florida Power & Light Co., which teaches that owners must address a “foreseeable zone of risk.”
In practical terms, Miami premises liability attorneys prove the claim by showing: (1) a duty to provide reasonably safe premises; (2) a breach—such as broken gates, poor lighting, or nonfunctioning cameras; (3) that the breach was a legal cause of the assault; and (4) damages.
Why does “foreseeability” decide so many negligent security cases?
Because juries evaluate what risks the owner knew or should have known, and whether ordinary precautions were ignored. In Sanders v. ERP Operating Ltd. P’ship, tenants were killed inside a “gated” complex; the Florida Supreme Court held plaintiffs could prove causation without showing the assailants’ exact entry route where evidence of lax security and prior risks supported a finding that better measures would have prevented or deterred the crime. Records that typically prove foreseeability include police calls for service, prior incidents on or near the property, maintenance and lighting logs, and guard post orders. When those materials reveal repeated warnings and little action, injury attorneys in Florida can link the breach to the harm with admissible proof.
Who can bring a negligent security claim—and what about trespassers?
Florida imposes greater duties to invitees—customers, residents, and paying guests—than to trespassers. Section 768.075 limits duties owed to trespassers, but lawful visitors remain protected by general negligence principles that require reasonable precautions in view of known crime patterns. For residents and paying guests, the core question is whether Florida attorneys can show that the owner failed to implement measures that comparable properties use under similar risks.
Where do these claims most often arise in South Florida?
Apartment and condominium communities, hotels and motels, shopping centers, nightlife venues, surface lots and garages, ATMs, and gas stations are frequent settings. Research on Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) notes that parking facilities often experience disproportionate violent crime because they cover large areas with lower foot traffic, underscoring the value of lighting, sightlines, and surveillance at entry/exit points—features a jury will expect to see if prior incidents occurred. When such precautions are promised but not maintained, a North Miami personal injury lawyer can use that mismatch to show breach and legal cause.
How do attorneys prove these cases under Florida jury instructions?
Florida’s standard instructions let jurors weigh whether the owner used reasonable care and whether the failure was a legal cause of the injury; both issues hinge on common-sense comparisons between known risks and actual precautions. Evidence often includes: police incident radials for the surrounding blocks; lighting photometrics and repair tickets; camera uptime and retention settings; access-control and key-fob logs; guard staffing and post orders; and the CPTED report required by §768.0706 for covered properties. With this record, attorneys connect hazards to outcomes in a way jurors can trust.
What compensation is available in a negligent security lawsuit?
Victims may claim medical expenses (past and future), lost income and earning capacity, and—when facts qualify—pain and suffering or wrongful death damages. Comparative negligence still applies, and intentional criminal actors can be allocated fault on the verdict form; that allocation does not erase a landowner’s share of liability if the evidence shows that reasonable security would have changed the outcome. The two-year filing period makes it vital for attorneys to start preservation the moment you call.
Which steps should you take right away if you suspect negligent security?
Request medical care and call law enforcement; preserve clothing and photographs; save all communications with the property; and reach out to Buchalter Hoffman and Dorchak so our team can send preservation notices, canvas for cameras beyond the property line, and obtain police calls-for-service that reveal prior patterns. With over 40 years focused on claims against insurance companies and corporate defendants, the firm litigates across Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach, offering services in English and Spanish. For immediate help, call 305-891-0211.