Posts Tagged ‘Unsafe Premise’

MILWAUKEE, WI–The Milwaukee law firm of Hausmann-McNally, S.C. is currently working with clients whose loved ones were injured or killed in places where there was no security or inadequate or inept security.

The law is clear, says firm President Attorney Charles J. Hausmann, “If a business invites you to spend money there, shop, eat, drink or use its services, it also has a responsibility to take reasonable care that you are safe. Customers minding their own business have been victims of robberies, shootings, rapes, attacks and homicides.”  Business owners need to take reasonable care to ensure against foreseeable events, Hausmann contends.

One way to determine if a violent event was foreseeable is to check police records to see if there have been incidents in or around that business before. But that can be deceiving because some businesses avoid calling the police, even when it is warranted, because they are trying to keep a “clean” record. A better measure of the safety of an area is looking at the overall crime statistics for the neighborhood and the district.

Hausmann-McNally advises: What you don’t know can hurt you
Business and property owners need to understand that contracting someone to do security does not absolve them from responsibility for death and injuries on their property. Hiring someone big and burly to stand at the door is not adequate. All security firms are not alike. Proper selection of employees, adequate training and the establishment of meticulous procedures for searching customers as they enter (if the business location is dangerous) are all called for. If security is lax, a property or business owner may be found negligent in a civil injury or wrongful death suit which often carries a large financial penalty for them and/or their insurance carrier.

In a recent suits brought or investigated by Hausmann-McNally, some facts became evident.

• Many central city business owners—especially rough taverns in rough neighborhoods–do not provide adequate security for their customers
• Customers’ safety is at risk if the neighborhood or the establishment itself has a history of violence
• Some taverns do not call police when they should in order to keep their record clean
• Some tavern owners look the other way when patrons use drugs, abuse alcohol or carry weapons.
• Sometimes the door guard accepts a “tip” for skipping the search.
• Security guards—if not property screened and trained–do not necessarily provide adequate security
• Some guards do not check patrons carefully, they assume that regular customers are OK or give favors to “special” people
• Police and civic actions do not seem to be able to stem the violence in and around problematic central-city taverns. It is up to customers to take their business where they are safe, and for owners and managers to institute and maintain their own business security personnel and procedures.

What to watch out for

• Taverns or establishments that have a history of violence
• Gas stations where the guards watch over the owner’s property but not people outside at the pump and parking areas.
• ATM machines that are not in public view and well-lit
• Store parking lots that are dark and unattended
• Any commercial building where there are hazards to customers

In addition to criminal action against those that commit violent acts, there are financial penalties for negligent business owners who disregard their customers’ safety. A judgment in favor of the injured or deceased sends a message that citizens will no longer tolerate businesses that offer inadequate security.

“If the police don’t scare business owners into providing adequate security, perhaps hitting them in the pocketbook will,” says Charles Hausmann, president of Hausmann-McNally, S.C. The firm has been serving the community for over 35 years.

Barrett spoke for the first time Wednesday (August 19) about being attacked by a man as he attempted to help a woman and her one-year-old granddaughter near the Wisconsin State Fair on Saturday night. The popular 55-year-old mayor suffered a shattered hand got two of his teeth knocked out and had gashes on his face and the back of his head.

Anthony J. Peters, 29, was arrested by Milwaukee police about noon Sunday near 17th and State Street after he was sought for the beating which happened as the mayor was leaving the Wisconsin State Fair at 10:45 p.m. in the 8800 block of W. Orchard St., West Allis at State Fair Park. The mayor was attending the fair with his family.

Questions arise about the mayor’s security. Should he have had a security guard with him while he visited the Wisconsin State Fair? Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle said in a radio interview Wednesday that he feels Barrett didn’t ask for security because “he just wanted a normal life,” that he should have been entitled to enjoy the fair with his family.

This leads me to something I have been thinking about. It involves people’s personal security. Sometimes bad things happen in completely unforeseen places and circumstances. But, sometimes things happen that could have been prevented because bad things have happened in those places before. And, it is predictable and foreseeable that additional criminal incidents would happen there again.

Although Mayor Barrett was attacked in what was apparently a safe public walkway, there are many privately owned businesses and commercial premises that should be looking after people’s security. And some just aren’t doing it.

Based on my experience in several recent cases, many property owners and businesses have a cavalier attitude towards their customers’ safety. Even though they are aware of unsafe conditions, they do not remedy them even after they are brought to their attention time and again. Issues like inadequate lighting or unsafe conditions, rickety stairs, unsafe tenants—even convicted arsonists allowed to live in an apartment complex without notifying the other tenants. We have seen situations where there have been repeated armed robberies, muggings and assaults in certain areas and specifically at certain addresses.  The law states that it is the property owner’s responsibility to exercise ordinary care to avoid creating an unreasonable risk of injury to a person. It is the business owner’s responsibility to provide a safe place for his/her employees and customers, including taking reasonable measures to prevent foreseeable violent incidents and deal with violent crime activity.

Of course, when it comes to trial, they argue they could not have predicted the incident. In several recent cases, I have asked our firm’s researchers to check police records and found that some businesses have an alarmingly long history of police calls. Time and again police were called to the same location and still things did not seem to improve. Some taverns, convenience stores, gas stations and partially-hidden ATM machines seem to generate an unusually high percentage of incidents.

Some businesses claimed they offered security, but when we checked into it, their security was nothing more than hiring a burly guy to stand at the door. That is not security. A good system involves a thorough security analysis, well-trained security professionals, strategic security thinking, and plans for preventing dangerous situations. We have hired experts to help us prove that inadequate, inappropriate or malfunctioning security was the cause of our clients’ injuries.

While it is unfortunate to be attacked in a place that is assumed to be safe, it is even more unfortunate to be attacked and injured in a place where the people know it is likely to happen and they did not provide adequate security.

This is the type of situation where an experienced personal injury attorney can help victims recover monetary awards or settlements for their losses and injuries. Our firm has worked with many of these types of “inadequate security” cases and we are eager to delve into the details to protect our clients’ rights.

In addition to Hausmann-McNally’s legal work for clients, we have devoted considerable resources and energy to overcoming violence in another way–checking it at the door by creating a positive counter force. In our efforts to create the Victory Over Violence Park in Milwaukee’s inner city, we transformed a rundown, littered area in one of the most violent areas of the city and turned it into a park where people can stroll, sit, listen to music, and enjoy flowers, trees and the outdoors. Hundreds of volunteer hours and the efforts of the neighborhood have helped make it bright spot for Milwaukee’s inner city.

As a lawyer, I get great satisfaction in winning court cases and settlements for my clients. As a citizen, I believe we need to do what we can to counteract the negative violent forces in our community.

The beating of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is in the headlines.