Negligent Security Lawyer in Missouri

If you were assaulted, robbed, or attacked on someone else’s property because of inadequate security, you may have a legal claim against the property owner. Under Missouri law, businesses and property owners can be held liable when they know or should know that criminal activity is reasonably likely on their premises and fail to take reasonable steps to prevent it.

This area of law is called negligent security, and it falls under the broader category of premises liability.

At Deputy & Mizell, we represent crime victims throughout Central Missouri and the Lake of the Ozarks region who have been harmed because a property owner put profits ahead of safety. With offices in Lebanon and Camdenton, we serve clients across the region.

If someone else’s failure to secure their property contributed to the crime that injured you, we want to hear your story.

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What Is Negligent Security?

Negligent security is a type of personal injury claim where a property owner or business operator fails to provide adequate security measures, and that failure allows a foreseeable crime to occur. The victim of the crime can then pursue a civil lawsuit against the property owner separately from any criminal case against the attacker.

This is an important distinction. A criminal case focuses on punishing the person who committed the crime. A negligent security case focuses on the property owner who created the unsafe conditions that allowed the crime to happen. Even if the attacker is never identified or convicted, you can still pursue a civil claim against the property owner for failing to protect you.

Missouri’s Business Premises Safety Act (§ 537.787) sets the standard for these claims. Under the Act, a business has no duty to guard against criminal acts unless it “knows or has reason to know that such acts are being committed or are reasonably likely to be committed in a particular area of the premises” and sufficient time exists to prevent the crime or injury. When a business meets that threshold and still fails to act, it can be held liable for the harm that follows.

Common Security Failures That Lead to Lawsuits

Property owners have a range of tools available to deter crime and protect the people on their premises. When they ignore those tools despite knowing their property has a crime problem, they are putting visitors, customers, and tenants at risk. Security failures we see in negligent security cases include:

Inadequate lighting

Dark parking lots, stairwells, hallways, and building exteriors give criminals cover to approach victims undetected. Proper lighting is one of the simplest and most cost-effective deterrents, which makes the failure to maintain it especially difficult to defend.

No security cameras or broken surveillance systems

Cameras deter crime when they are visible and functional. Many property owners install cameras but never maintain them, leaving systems with dead zones, broken lenses, or footage that overwrites before it can be reviewed after an incident.

Lack of security personnel

Properties with a known history of criminal activity may need on-site security guards, especially during high-risk hours. Bars, nightclubs, and late-night retail businesses that operate without adequate security staff despite a pattern of violence are putting their customers in danger.

Broken locks, gates, and access controls

Apartment buildings, hotels, and gated properties rely on physical barriers to control who enters the premises. When those barriers break down and are not repaired, they create an open invitation for criminal activity.

Failure to address a known crime history

Perhaps the most damaging failure is when a property owner knows about prior crimes on or near the property and does nothing. Prior incidents are the strongest evidence that future crime is foreseeable, and ignoring that history is the core of most negligent security claims.

Over-serving alcohol without security measures

Bars and restaurants that serve alcohol have a responsibility to manage the risks that come with intoxicated patrons. Operating without trained security staff, de-escalation protocols, or capacity controls invites foreseeable violence.

Where Negligent Security Happens in Missouri

Negligent security claims can arise anywhere people are invited onto someone else’s property. But the data shows that certain property types are far more dangerous than others.

According to FBI crime data analyzed by CrimeVictimJustice.com, 3,705 violent crimes occurred at Missouri commercial properties in 2025 alone.

That includes aggravated assaults, robberies, rapes, and homicides at locations where property owners have a legal duty to protect visitors.

The properties with the highest incident counts include:

Parking lots and garages

Parking lots and garages lead the state with 965 violent crime incidents in 2025, accounting for 26% of all commercial property violence. Assaults, robberies, and even homicides occur in parking facilities where poor lighting, no security patrols, and a lack of surveillance cameras create dangerous conditions.

Convenience stores

Convenience stores recorded 430 incidents, driven heavily by robberies. Late-night operations with minimal staff, visible cash, and no protective barriers make these businesses foreseeable targets.

Hotels and motels

Hotels and motels saw 348 incidents, including 99 rapes, the highest concentration of sexual assaults among all commercial property types. Broken room locks, poor hallway surveillance, and lack of guest screening contribute to these numbers. Notably, Missouri’s Business Premises Safety Act specifically excludes lodging operations from its definition of “business,” which means hotels may face broader liability under common law premises liability standards.

Gas Stations

Gas stations reported 315 incidents, including 12 homicides. Isolated locations, late-night hours, and cash transactions create a combination of risk factors that property owners are expected to address.

Restaurants and bars

Restaurants and bars combined for 554 incidents. Alcohol service without adequate security staffing is a recurring factor, particularly at bars and nightclubs where 221 aggravated assaults occurred in a single year.

Over five years (2020-2024), the cumulative data shows an even clearer picture: 23,413 violent crimes at Missouri commercial properties, averaging more than 4,600 per year. When crime occurs at this scale, property owners cannot credibly claim that violence on their premises was unforeseeable.

Lake of the Ozarks and Central Missouri

The Lake of the Ozarks region presents unique negligent security risks. Seasonal tourism brings large crowds to hotels, bars, marinas, campgrounds, and entertainment venues that may not maintain year-round security infrastructure.

Properties that operate with skeleton staffing during peak tourist season while serving alcohol late into the night create foreseeable conditions for violence. If you were attacked at a Lake-area property, the seasonal nature of the business does not excuse the owner from their duty to protect you.

Missouri’s Business Premises Safety Act: What You Need to Know

Missouri passed the Business Premises Safety Act in 2018 (§ 537.785 and § 537.787), and it is the primary statute governing negligent security claims against businesses in the state. Understanding this law is essential for any crime victim considering a claim.

The duty standard

A business has no duty to guard against crime unless it “knows or has reason to know” that criminal acts are being committed or are “reasonably likely to be committed in a particular area of the premises” and sufficient time exists to prevent the crime. This means the central question in most negligent security cases is: did the property owner have reason to know crime was likely?

What counts as “reason to know.”

Evidence of foreseeability can include prior criminal incidents on the property, crime reports in the surrounding area, the nature of the business (cash-heavy, late-night, alcohol-serving), complaints from customers or employees about safety, and industry knowledge about security risks for that type of property.

Reasonable security measures.

The Act defines this as “those precautions that a reasonable business owner in such industry would implement in a particular area of the premises to guard against criminal acts or harmful acts based on the condition of the premises and the cost of implementing such precautions.” This is an industry-specific standard, meaning what counts as reasonable for a parking garage is different from what is reasonable for a daycare.

Affirmative defenses.

A business can defend against a claim by showing it implemented reasonable security measures or by proving the victim was trespassing or attempting to commit a felony at the time of the incident.

The residential and lodging exclusion.

The Act does not apply to “commercial residential or lodging operations.” This means apartment complexes, hotels, and similar properties are governed by broader common law premises liability principles rather than the Act’s specific framework. In practice, this may create a wider path to liability for property owners who fail to secure residential and lodging properties.

Subsequent remedial measures.

Under the Act, evidence that a business improved its security after an incident cannot be used to prove negligence or establish that security measures were feasible. This is a standard evidentiary rule, but it underscores the importance of gathering evidence about the property’s security failures as they existed at the time of the crime.

What You Can Recover in a Negligent Security Case

Crime victims who bring successful negligent security claims in Missouri can recover compensation for both economic and non-economic damages. There is no cap on damages in most negligent security cases (unlike medical malpractice, which has statutory limits on non-economic damages).

Economic damages include past and future medical expenses, hospital bills, rehabilitation and therapy costs, lost wages during recovery, and reduced future earning capacity if your injuries affect your ability to work.
Non-economic damages cover pain and suffering, emotional distress, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, loss of enjoyment of life, and disfigurement or permanent impairment.
Wrongful death damages may be available if a family member was killed due to inadequate security. Missouri law allows surviving family members to pursue compensation for funeral expenses, loss of financial support, loss of companionship and guidance, and the pain and suffering the victim experienced before death. The statute of limitations for wrongful death is three years from the date of death (§ 537.080).

Missouri follows a pure comparative fault rule, which means you can recover damages even if you were partially at fault for what happened. Your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault, but you are not barred from recovery. Insurance companies and property owners will try to shift blame to the victim. Having an experienced attorney on your side helps counter those arguments.

Proving a Negligent Security Claim

Negligent security cases require you to prove four elements:

Duty. The property owner owed you a duty of care. If you were a customer, guest, tenant, or other lawful visitor, the property owner had an obligation to take reasonable steps to keep the premises safe.
Breach. The property owner failed to provide adequate security. This is where evidence of broken cameras, missing security guards, poor lighting, and ignored crime history becomes critical.
Causation. The inadequate security was a direct contributing factor to the crime that harmed you. You do not need to prove that better security would have guaranteed your safety, but you do need to show that reasonable security measures would have reduced the likelihood of the attack.
Damages. You suffered actual harm as a result of the crime, including physical injuries, emotional trauma, financial losses, or the death of a loved one.

Building a strong negligent security case often requires working with security experts who can evaluate the property’s measures against industry standards, reviewing police reports and prior incident histories, and analyzing crime data for the surrounding area. These are not cases where a general practitioner can deliver the best results. You need an attorney who understands premises liability law and knows how to investigate security failures.

Get Help With Your Negligent Security Claim in Central Missouri

Being the victim of a violent crime is traumatic enough without learning that it could have been prevented. If you believe inadequate security on someone else’s property contributed to the attack that injured you or killed someone you love, you have legal options. The property owner’s failure to act does not have to go unchallenged.

At Deputy & Mizell, attorney Dan Mizell has spent decades representing injured Missourians in personal injury cases throughout Central Missouri. We understand the complexity of premises liability law and the evidence needed to hold negligent property owners accountable. Your initial consultation is always free, and there is no fee unless we recover compensation for you.

Call Deputy & Mizell at 417-532-2191 or contact us online to schedule your free consultation today.

We have offices in Lebanon and Camdenton and serve clients throughout Central Missouri and the Lake of the Ozarks region.

This page is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Every case is different. Consult with a qualified attorney to discuss the specific facts of your situation.