Whenever you see signs that promise “24-hour security” and “monitored surveillance,” you probably believe that the property you’re on is safe and secure. Those signs are not only placed as a deterrent to criminals, the cameras capturing footage of the actions of people on that property can provide critical evidence if you’re hurt on the premises.
Surveillance footage is often the most critical evidence you may have if you’re injured on someone else’s property, as it reveals the incident exactly as it happened and can show whether reasonable security measures were in place.
The experienced Kansas City negligent security attorneys at Peterson Law Firm understand that property owners often fail to provide adequate security measures, even when they’re aware of potential risks. If you were injured on someone else’s property, our attorneys can help determine if security camera evidence supports your claim that the property owner knew or should have known about safety risks but failed to take appropriate action. Here, we discuss how surveillance footage can be critical in proving negligent security claims, including footage most useful and how to obtain it.
Why Surveillance Footage Can Work in Your Favor
When you’re pursuing a negligent security claim, security camera footage provides an unbiased, moment-by-moment account of the incident that led to your injury. It’s often true that eyewitnesses miss or remember important details differently. This visual evidence can be critical to your claim in several ways:
Surveillance Footage Establishes a Timeline
Security cameras record with timestamps that allow our attorneys to create a precise timeline of the events leading up to and during the incident when you were injured. This can help show how long it took for security personnel to respond to the incident and how long an unauthorized person may have been loitering in the area. These details can help lay the groundwork for a strong negligent security claim.
Surveillance Footage Can Show Pre-Existing Security Problems
A challenging aspect of a negligent security case is proving that the property owners knew about the security problems but failed to address them. If there is security footage from weeks or months before your injury, it may show patterns of behavior that support your case. For example, the footage may show previous thefts, assaults, or unauthorized access in the same area where your incident took place. This footage can show that property owners should have implemented additional safety measures. Prior footage can provide a historical record of a property area that owners neglected to secure.
Surveillance Footage Can Help Identify Witnesses and Responsible Parties
Security camera footage can help identify potential witnesses who may have seen the incident or noticed security issues beforehand. These witnesses can provide additional testimony to strengthen your case. The footage might also help identify security personnel who were on duty and responsible for monitoring the area where the incident occurred.
In some cases, surveillance video can help establish whether third-party security contractors fulfilled their contractual obligations. This determination could expand liability beyond the property owner to include security companies that failed to provide the promised services.
Most Valuable Surveillance Evidence in Negligent Security Cases
Some security camera footage is more valuable than others in negligent security claims. Here are the most important types of surveillance footage to obtain:
Cameras that Capture the Interior and Exterior
Footage from both interior and exterior cameras provides the most complete picture of security conditions. Interior cameras might show whether doors were properly secured, while exterior footage often captures parking lots and entryways where many security incidents occur.
Our attorneys will look for gaps in coverage that might have contributed to security vulnerabilities. Properties that advertise comprehensive security but have significant blind spots or missing cameras may be particularly liable for failing to deliver promised protection.
Cameras That Use Time-Lapse and Motion-Activated Recordings
Some security systems use time-lapse recording or motion-activated cameras to conserve storage space. While these can be valuable, they sometimes miss critical moments between recordings. Your attorney will evaluate whether the type of recording system used was appropriate for the security needs of the property.
The absence of continuous recording in high-risk areas might constitute negligence, especially if industry standards call for more comprehensive monitoring in similar properties or locations.
Security Systems With Access Control Systems
Many modern security systems include access control footage that records who enters and exits secured areas. This evidence can be crucial in determining whether unauthorized individuals gained access through security failures.
Access logs from key cards or visitor management systems often complement video evidence by providing additional documentation of who was present during relevant time periods.
Third-Party Videos
Often, the most valuable surveillance footage comes from sources outside the property itself. Nearby businesses, traffic cameras, or even bystander videos might capture incidents or conditions that property-owned cameras missed or failed to record.
Our attorney will work to identify and preserve all potential video sources that might contain relevant evidence before it's deleted or overwritten in regular recording cycles.
How to Obtain and Preserve Surveillance Footage
Securing video evidence quickly is essential since many systems automatically delete footage after a certain period of time. Here's how to help ensure this critical evidence isn't lost:
- Act quickly to prevent deletion. Most security systems retain footage for 30 to 90 days before overwriting it with new recordings. Some systems keep data for even shorter periods. This makes it important to act quickly. Our attorneys can send preservation letters demanding that all relevant footage be saved and can seek court orders, if necessary, to prevent destruction of evidence.
- Request proper formats and metadata. When requesting security footage, our attorneys will specify that videos should be provided in their original format with all associated metadata intact. This metadata often contains crucial information about recording times, camera locations, and system settings that might be lost if footage is converted or edited.
- Work with video experts. Sometimes, security footage is of poor quality due to low-resolution cameras, poor lighting, or compression issues. Digital enhancement techniques can often improve video clarity to reveal important details that support your claim. Video forensics experts can authenticate footage, enhance quality, and provide expert testimony about what the recordings show. These specialists can be particularly valuable when property owners dispute the interpretation of video evidence.