December nights in Georgia bring crowded malls, pop-up markets, and late store hours—and, too often, parking lot assaults, purse snatches, and carjackings. When a business invites customers onto its property, it has a legal duty to take reasonable steps to keep those premises and approaches safe. If you were attacked in a lot, parking deck, or at a holiday event, here’s how Georgia law views negligent security and what to do now to protect your health and your claim.
Why negligent security claims rise in December
Stores extend hours, lots fill up, and people carry cash, gifts, and electronics. Visibility drops early, security staff is stretched thin, and broken lights or cameras aren’t fixed promptly. If a property owner or management company ignores foreseeable risks—like prior incidents, repeated thefts, or dark areas near entrances—and someone gets hurt, they can be held responsible under Georgia premises liability.
Who may be liable
- Property owners and managers who fail to provide reasonable lighting, surveillance, or patrols, or who ignore patterns of crime on or near the property.
- Security contractors that understaff, skip patrols, or don’t follow their own post orders.
- Event organizers and promoters when crowd flow, cash handling, or exits are poorly planned.
- Maintenance vendors if broken lights, gates, or cameras go unrepaired for unreasonable periods.
Liability depends on foreseeability (what the owner knew or should have known) and whether simple, reasonable measures—lighting, cameras, patrols, fencing, controlled access—were missing.
What to do right away (health first, proof second)
- Call 911 and get medical care immediately. Concussions, fractures, and internal injuries can be missed on day one.
- Report it to management—get an incident number. Ask them to preserve all CCTV for at least two hours before and after the incident.
- Photograph the scene before it changes. Capture lighting conditions, burned-out bulbs, camera locations, broken gates, blind corners, and the exact spot of the assault or theft.
- Identify witnesses and other victims. Get names, phone numbers, and short statements if possible; note employees on duty.
- Save damaged items and clothing. Do not discard or clean them. Keep receipts for emergency expenses (tows, rideshares, prescriptions).
- Avoid recorded statements to insurers or corporate risk managers until you’ve spoken with counsel.
- Follow your treatment plan and keep a simple log of symptoms, missed work, and limitations.
Evidence that moves negligent security cases
Winning these cases often comes down to fast preservation and detail:
- Crime history: prior police calls, incident logs, and similar crimes on or near the property that make risk foreseeable.
- Lighting and visibility: measurements, bulb outage reports, and maintenance work orders.
- Cameras and patrols: CCTV coverage maps, retention policies, actual footage, and guard post orders/schedules.
- Design and access: fencing, gates, “desire paths,” and whether customers are funneled through dark or isolated areas.
- Staffing and holiday plans: whether management increased patrols or lighting for extended hours and high-traffic days.
Common injuries and damages
Assaults and robbery attempts often lead to concussions and post-concussive symptoms (headaches, brain fog, light sensitivity), facial injuries and dental trauma, fractures of the wrist/hand/shoulder from bracing, knee/ankle injuries, and anxiety or PTSD. A Georgia claim can pursue ER and follow-up care, imaging and therapy, counseling, future medical needs, lost wages or reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering, and damaged or stolen property.
Typical defenses—and how to think about them
Businesses may argue the crime was “unpredictable” or that the victim should have been more careful. In Georgia, the focus is whether the owner had superior knowledge of danger and failed to take reasonable steps to reduce it. Patterns of prior incidents, repeated lighting outages, broken gates, and minimal patrols during peak hours can defeat “we couldn’t have known” defenses.
Practical safety tips that also help your claim
Park near entrances and under working lights, lock valuables out of sight before you arrive, and walk with others when possible. If you notice a dark area or broken gate, take a quick photo and notify management—your report can protect others and create a timestamped record of a known hazard.
How Gunn Law Group proves negligent security
We move quickly to lock down video and lighting evidence before it disappears, obtain police call-for-service histories and incident logs, analyze maintenance and staffing records, and—when needed—bring in security and human-factors experts. We coordinate your medical care to document both physical and psychological injuries and identify every available insurance policy (owner, manager, security contractor) so one minimal limit doesn’t cap your recovery. Then we negotiate from evidence—not guesses.
If a holiday shopping trip turned into a parking lot assault or robbery, don’t face corporate risk managers alone. Need a home run? Call the Big Gunn at 888-BIG-GUNN or visit thegunnlawgroup.com for a free case review with an Atlanta personal injury lawyer who knows how to win negligent security cases.
