“Labor Omnia Vincit” McKay Law
Negligent security cases are particularly challenging and sensitive in Tulsa, OK. When property owners fail to provide reasonable security and someone is assaulted, robbed, or killed, the legal path to justice involves proving what should have been prevented. McKay Law represents negligent security victims throughout OK. These cases are fundamentally different from typical premises liability claims—showing the owner knew or should have known about the risk and failed to act. Common locations for negligent security incidents include properties where owners cut corners on safety despite known risks. Common types of incidents include assaults and batteries in poorly lit parking lots, sexual assaults in apartment buildings with broken locks, shootings at venues with inadequate security personnel, robberies at businesses without cameras or alarms, and wrongful death from preventable attacks. Establishing the property owner’s responsibility demands experienced legal work—under premises liability and negligence principles. Our Tulsa inadequate security lawyers move fast to preserve evidence—the proof needed to establish what the owner knew and what they failed to do. Negligent security cases often require security experts to establish the standard of care. We pursue claims against landlords, management firms, security contractors, and corporate entities responsible for safety. Negligent security cases raise complex insurance questions—multiple policies may apply, including general liability and umbrella coverage, and insurers aggressively defend these claims. Common harm includes life-altering harm—both physical wounds and profound psychological impact. We pursue full compensation including hospital costs, ongoing therapy, missed income, suffering, and survivor damages. Property owners and their insurers will fight hard against these claims—you deserve representation that understands how to win these challenging cases. Every negligent security case is handled on a contingency basis—you pay nothing unless we win. Reach out to McKay Law right away for a free consultation with a Tulsa, OK premises liability attorney who will pursue every responsible party.
Property owners have a legal duty to protect visitors from foreseeable criminal acts. When security failures lead to crime victimization, owners can be held responsible. These are negligent security cases. These cases often involve apartments, hotels, retail, and other commercial properties where poor security led to crime. Our firm fights for negligent security victims in Tulsa and across the state.
Whether security is “adequate” depends on the circumstances:
To prove a negligent security case, the crime must have been foreseeable. This is shown through:
Sexual assault cases have special features:
Oklahoma generally gives two years from the date of the incident to file (Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 95). Sexual assault statutes may extend deadlines. For child victims, the limitations period may extend.
We get to work immediately to preserve camera footage, examine crime data, obtain prior complaints, engage expert security consultants, coordinate civil and criminal cases, protect client privacy in sensitive cases, partner with treating providers, and build each file for the courtroom from the start.
A: Yes, if the crime was foreseeable and security was inadequate.
A: Zero upfront. No fee unless we recover.
A: Yes, in qualifying cases.
A: You may have a strong claim. Inadequate security, broken locks, untrained staff, or failure to address known dangers can all create liability.
A: The crime was reasonably foreseeable. Foreseeability is typically established through prior incidents, neighborhood crime, or specific threats.
A: File a wrongful death claim if the property owner was negligent.
A: Never. Talk to a lawyer first.
A: Yes, if safety permits. Photograph the scene if it’s safe to do so.
A: Two years from the date of the incident (Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 95). For minors, the deadline may be tolled until age 18.
Negligent security cases sit at the intersection of premises liability and third-party criminal conduct. The injury was caused by a criminal — but the case isn’t against the criminal. The defendant is the property owner whose security failures enabled the harm. This is its own area of law. A local attorney experienced with these claims knows the specific legal requirements these cases involve.
The central legal issue asks whether owners are responsible for third-party crime.
The general principle is no liability.
Multiple exceptions apply.
Foreseeability is the central concept.
These cases require foreseeability of the criminal act.
Foreseeability requires prior crime evidence.
Certain relationships create elevated duties for security:
Prior incidents on the premises is the most powerful foreseeability evidence.
Documentation of prior incidents should include:
Neighborhood crime data can establish foreseeability when the property is in a high-crime area.
Sources for area crime data include:
Direct evidence of the property owner’s awareness can establish foreseeability:
Risk-elevated property types:
Theft and robbery cases.
Physical assault in parking lots, garages, building common areas.
Sexual victimization.
These are among the most devastating negligent security cases.
Shooting cases present specific challenges.
Active shooter incidents can support negligent security claims.
Multi-family housing crime generates significant case volume.
Hotel-related violence and theft can support negligent security claims.
Parking lot and garage crime generates significant case volume.
Workplace crime cases.
Security needs are property-specific.
Security components include:
Proper lighting.
Inadequate lighting is one of the most common contributing factors.
Functional surveillance camera systems.
Cameras must be:
On-site security, particularly for properties with elevated risk profiles.
Controls on access to the property.
Functional locks on doors, gates, and access points.
Emergency communications, including emergency phones.
Proper landscaping.
Written security policies, Security training, Response procedures.
Insufficient lighting for criminals.
Cameras that aren’t recording provide no security benefit.
Insufficient security staff given the actual risk profile.
Recommendation failures face heightened liability.
Broken access controls.
Inadequate training.
Ignored complaints carry greater exposure.
Compensation in these cases include:
Emergency and trauma care, surgical costs, Hospital stays, Physical and other rehabilitation, Long-term medical needs, mental health treatment (often substantial).
Earnings affected by injury and long-term wage impact.
Pain and suffering damages.
Mental health damages generate major damages.
Effects on daily life and activities.
Effects on intimate relationships.
In fatal negligent security cases.
Negligent security cases frequently support punitive damages, especially where:
The property owner is the primary defendant.
Property managers can share liability.
Companies contracted to provide security may bear primary responsibility for service deficiencies.
Multiple property-related parties can share liability.
Franchisor liability, franchisors may face liability in some circumstances.
The primary defense.
“How could we have known?”. Comprehensive prior-crime evidence defeats this defense.
Security adequacy defenses.
“Better security wouldn’t have prevented this”.
“You contributed to your own harm”.
Sole-criminal-responsibility arguments. This defense generally fails.
Don’t accept informal handling. Crime reports are critical.
Quick medical attention protects the claim.
The location, lighting, cameras, security personnel, access controls, and overall security.
What was inadequate.
Visual evidence of every relevant detail.
Independent observers.
Crime history require investigation.
PTSD and other psychological consequences often require significant treatment.
Adjusters reach out fast. Statements without counsel create problematic admissions.
Negligent security attorneys work on contingency. Expert costs run high paid by counsel.
These cases require quick action.
Video recordings requires prompt preservation.
Employee turnover requiring prompt investigation.
Property owners often change security after incidents, providing evidence of prior inadequacy.
OK’s statute of limitations applies regardless.
Getting an attorney involved promptly locks down the critical evidence.
When a robbery happens in a parking lot, hotel hallway, apartment complex, or store, the criminal is rarely the only one responsible. Property owners have a legal obligation to provide reasonable security for everyone they invite onto their premises — and when they neglect that duty, foreseeable crimes happen and innocent people get hurt. Negligent security claims come about when a property had a track record of prior crimes that should have prompted action, when known hazards like broken locks, dead security cameras, burned-out parking lot lights, missing security personnel, and unsecured access points were deferred, and when reasonable measures — proper lighting, working surveillance, trained guards, access controls — would have deterred the attack. At McKay Law, we tackle these cases by digging into the property’s crime history, prior complaints to management, security audits, police call records, and the owner’s response — or non-response — to known risks. We consult security experts, crime prevention specialists, and former law enforcement to confirm exactly what a reasonable owner would have done and why this owner failed.
Apartment complexes, hotels, parking garages, shopping centers, bars and nightclubs, ATMs, gas stations, college campuses, and event venues all carry substantial legal responsibility for the safety of the people they invite onto their property. When you join the McKay Law family, we chase compensation that reflects the full scope of what was taken from you — physical and emotional. We chase the highest possible compensation for emergency care, surgeries, hospitalization, ongoing rehabilitation, future medical needs, prescription costs, counseling and psychiatric care for trauma and PTSD, missed paychecks, diminished earning ability, the profound fear, anxiety, and emotional aftermath of being assaulted in a place that was supposed to be safe — and in the most tragic cases, the wrongful death of someone you cared deeply for. Phone us right away at (866) 679-9651 or contact us online to book your free, confidential consultation and place a firm that considers crimes against innocent victims with the seriousness they deserve in your corner.
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