Cambridge Negligent Security – College Campuses

Whether you’re a teenager preparing to enter early adulthood and break out on your own or you’re going back to school to further your education, living on a college campus can be unlike any other time of your life. Unfortunately, incidents can occur on campus that threaten your safety. If you were injured in such an incident that could have been avoided with better security, you should contact a personal injury attorney at the Cambridge-based firm of Altman & Altman LLP to get started on a claim today.

Dangers on campus

College campuses are places bustling with life, activities and thousands of individuals all buzzing with their own lives and aspirations. They truly take on the feeling of a community. But just as is the case with any other community, certain individuals on campus may not have your best interests at heart.

Robberies, break-ins, physical batteries and sexual assaults happen on college campuses every single day, and while you can’t always control whether or not you’ll become a victim, colleges have an important responsibility to provide as safe an environment for their students as is possible. When this responsibility is breached, and you are victimized as a result, you may have a strong claim to hold the school accountable and seek financial compensation for any injuries or other damage that occurs.

Most colleges have dedicated personnel solely responsible for maintaining security throughout campus, and other colleges have their own police forces to respond to crimes. When these entities fail to protect those they serve, we can hold them accountable. Some examples of cases where you may have a case for financial compensation under a negligent security claim include:

• A security guard fails to show up for their scheduled shift at the check-in desk of a dormitory hall, allowing suspicious individuals to enter the hall unchecked. They break into your room and assault you in the process of stealing items. This case could also apply if the security guard was present but failed to properly inspect the intruders and allowed them access.
• A college campus fails to properly inspect their doors or windows for weaknesses, allowing them to be propped open or opened without proper keys or credentials. This security breach allows someone to get into your building or dorm and injure you.
• College campuses with expansive outdoor areas need to be well lit and college administrators must keep in mind that students may be stalked or victimized by predators waiting in the shadows. A failure to keep well-lit outdoor areas could be grounds for a claim if you are assaulted or otherwise injured.
• College campuses may utilize security cameras to ensure the safety of students. If the cameras don’t function when a crime occurs or they are improperly stored and unable to be accessed, leading to an assailant getting away following a crime, the school may be held liable.

Negligent security is inexcusable security

Parents know more than anybody how nerve wracking it can be to send a child off to college on their own. All you can hope is that they will be as safe as possible and that, in the instances where they are vulnerable, proper protections will be in place to secure their safety.

When these protections fail, and somebody you love gets hurt, it can be devastating. Apart from the physical harm that students may suffer, mental harm can be significant as well when you are victimized in a situation you once felt was safe. Injuries can lead to high medical expenses or lost money due to missed time from jobs that help students pay for their tuition and costs associated with college. In particularly bad injuries, missed classes could force students to re-take classes or whole semesters, an incredible financial burden with the exorbitant cost of college tuition.

The Cambridge-based personal injury attorneys at Altman & Altman have 50 years of experience in the Cambridge area – an area well renowned for its universities and institutions of higher learning. If you were victimized due to insufficient, ineffective or non-existent campus security, we want to hear from you.

Contact us online or call for a free consultation to go over the details of your case today at 617-492-3000 or toll-free at 800-481-6199. We are available 24/7.