Negligent security claims generally turn on one key question: Was the safety setup reasonable for the foreseeable risk on that property?
In Leland, foreseeable risk can include more than prior police calls. Property owners may be expected to respond reasonably to conditions they knew about, such as:
- repeated trouble around building entry points or parking lots
- broken or bypassed access controls (doors, gates, key fobs)
- inadequate lighting for walkways, stairwells, or vehicle routes
- lack of functioning surveillance where incidents are likely to occur
- unsafe after-hours patterns tied to events, crowding, or tenant turnover
You do not have to prove the owner guaranteed safety. Instead, you typically need evidence showing the owner’s security measures were lacking in light of what they knew or should have known.


