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January 4, 2017 In Personal Injury

Mall Security in Memphis- Oak Court Mall and Wolfchase Mall Incidents

mall security lawyer, crime victim lawyer memphis tn

Malls in Memphis Should Add Private Security, Says Memphis Police Director Rallings

Do you ever shop at shopping malls in Memphis?

According to the Commercial Appeal, Memphis Police Director, Michael Rallings, said that malls in Memphis depend too much on the short-staffed Memphis Police Department and should instead add private security. Director Rallings also issued this warning to parents who drop off unsupervised children and teenagers to roam about at malls: “It’s not our job to raise your children. That’s your job.”

Our firm handles negligent security cases, and what Director Rallings speaks of is absolutely in line with what Tennessee law requires of commercial property owners. In our state, a commercial property owner, like a store or shopping mall, must provide reasonable security to its customers. What is reasonable? That’s ultimately up to a jury to decide after hearing evidence about crime history, neighborhood statistics, etc., but it sure sounds like Director Rallings believes that Memphis shopping malls can and should provide better security that what presently exists.  For the sake of the citizens of Memphis, we hope area shopping malls heed Director Rallings’ recommendation to increase security levels.

Crime Victim Lawyers

We represent victims of crime in the civil court system, because remedies in criminal court do not adequately compensate the crime victim. We may be able to help a crime victim recover compensation for injuries and financial losses due to the failure of a business, shopping mall, store, or apartment complex to provide reasonable security measures in accordance with Tennessee law.  If you or someone you know needs our help, please call us today at 901-372-5003.

Patterson Bray PLLC

8001 Centerview Parkway, Suite 103

Memphis, TN  38018

Phone: (901) 372-5003

www.pattersonbray.com

More Resources for Crime Victims

Visit our Crime Victim page here.

View our previous BLOG POSTS about negligent security cases below:

Cordova Apartment Shootings: Was there security?

Apartment Managers Can’t Turn a Blind Eye to Crime

Windgood Manor Apartment Shootings in Memphis

Deadly Shooting at Madison Cypress Lakes in Memphis

Apartment Complex Crime- Memphis Attorneys

November 30, 2016 In Personal Injury

“Apartment Managers Can’t Turn a Blind Eye to Crime,” says Apartment Crime Lawyer Memphis,TN Knows and Trusts.

As an apartment crime lawyer Memphis, TN  knows and trusts, I can tell you that in Tennessee, the law requires property owners to take reasonable measures to protect their tenants and guests from foreseeable criminal attacks.  Many apartment managers and owners fail to do this, and in some cases, innocent people living in or visiting apartment complexes or communities are injured as a result.

What is a foreseeable crime?

Tennessee case law states that the degree of foreseeability needed to establish a duty by an apartment owner to protect against criminal acts will almost always require that prior instances of crime have occurred on or in the immediate vicinity of the property. Courts will consider the location, nature, and extent of previous criminal activities and their similarity, proximity, or other relationship to the crime that resulted in personal injuries to an innocent victim.

Assessing Crime at an Apartment Complex

So, what is a property owner or apartment manager in Memphis TN supposed to do? The owner or manager can start by assessing the level of crime within the apartment complex and surrounding neighborhood. How is management supposed to know about crime? Many apartment managers commute to work from some other neighborhood and don’t even live in the apartment complex they manage, so they are disconnected from the community.  Even if a manager does live on site, the manager might claim he or she never observed any crime occurring, and thus had no reason to know security measures were necessary. Good enough? Not by a long shot. There are many tools available today for property owners and managers to use to assess crime as the first step in developing a reasonable security plan for an apartment community.

Reviewing and Monitoring Crime Levels apartment crime lawyer memphis, tn

As an apartment crime lawyer Memphis, TN counts on, I regularly obtain the following information while representing victims of apartment violence and shootings, so we  know that the same information is available to apartment owners and managers.

  • CAP Index® Reports– According to the company’s website, CRIMECAST Reports are designed to identify the risk of personal and property crimes at a particular location.
  • Crime Analysis Reports. In the City of Memphis, a property manager or owner can submit a Crime Analysis Search Request to the Memphis TN Police Department and receive a Crime Analysis Report.  Information can be requested for a specific address, apartment complex, police district, or radius around an address.  The Report generated identifies the number and types of crimes for the time period requested, the specific location of each crime, and the corresponding incident report numbers for each crime.
  • Review Police Incident Reports. In Memphis, TN, an apartment manager can request copies of police reports in order to understand the types of crimes being committed on or near a property.
  • Calls for Service. In Memphis, TN,  a property owner or manager can request the calls for service made to a particular address or apartment complex.
  • Statistics from Local Police Precinct.  A property owner or manager can also visit the local precinct, discuss crime in the neighborhood, and request and obtain information concerning crime statistics for the area.

Are you the Victim of an Apartment Crime or Apartment Shooting? If so, call the apartment crime lawyer Memphis, TN knows and respects! 

If you are the victim of a serious injury due to apartment crime, please call Patterson Bray today at 901-372-5003. We’ve helped others like you, and we can help YOU recover if apartment management failed to take reasonable measures to protect against foreseeable criminal attacks.  Patterson Bray is an apartment crime lawyer Memphis, TN  knows and trusts. We will meet or speak with you and discuss whether you might have a case at no charge.  Let us get to work for you.

Here are the experienced Memphis apartment crime lawyers at our law firm who will work on your case:

 

November 11, 2015 In Civil Litigation, General, Personal Injury

Apartment Complex Crime -Negligent Security-Memphis

crime victim lawyers, apartment complex crime attorney

Apartment Complex Crime -Negligent Security-Memphis

Memphis has more than its share of violence. Apartment complex crime in Memphis is serious. Recently, another man lost his life after being gunned down as he was walking back into his apartment at the Prescott Place Apartments located in the 1700 block of Morlye Street. Not all crime is preventable, but many times property managers and apartment complexes do not have adequate security to deter and prevent crime.

We have significant experience in handling apartment crime and negligent security cases. Investigating and prosecuting these claims can be complex. We often learn that  large out-of-town companies own and operate apartments in high-crime neighborhoods, and do little to protect their residents and visitors. Why do these companies ignore the crime? It’s simple: spending money on security measures cuts into the bottom line.

An apartment complex presents unique security issues that don’t exist in single-family neighborhoods. The layout of the premises often makes it challenging for local police to monitor and patrol the area. Because of this, it is even more important for apartment companies and property managers to be intentional about the security on their property.

Unfortunately, many times security measures such as increased lighting, properly maintained landscaping, and security guard patrols are ignored and residents are left to fend for themselves. When this happens, you can be sure that criminals learn which properties are prime targets. Indeed, in one case we worked on, three criminals actually rode their bikes past several other commercial and residential areas to specifically find a victim at the defendant apartment complex because they knew it was dark and no security guards worked at night. The failure of the apartment complex and property management to implement and maintain reasonable security measures resulted in the complex having a reputation for being a good place to commit crime without getting caught, and our client suffered a catastrophic gunshot wound because of it.

We represent victims of apartment complex crime.

If you or someone you know has been the victim of apartment complex crime in Memphis or if you have been a crime victim on a commercial property and you think that the security measures may not have been reasonable, please feel free to call our firm to see if we can help. We are attorneys for crime victims. Call us at 901-372-5003.

Patterson Bray PLLC

8001 Centerview Parkway, Suite 103

Memphis, Tennessee 38018

(901) 372-5003