A wrongful death lawsuit in Jacksonville, Florida, recently resulted in a $12 million settlement after a fatal shooting at an apartment complex. The lawsuit centered on claims that property owners failed to implement sufficient protective measures, raising premises liability concerns.

At the time of the shooting, the owners of the complex had minimum security infrastructure on the property. Despite a history of violent criminal activity on the premises, former employees testified that security measures were utterly inadequate. The complex had only a few surveillance cameras pointed at management assets like the leasing office and laundry rooms, no access control, no gated entry, and no professional security staff on duty.

The takeaway: Premises liability involves much more than responsibility for slippery floors, icy sidewalks, and poor lighting.

What Does Inadequate Security Have to Do With Premises Liability?

Premises liability is the legal responsibility property owners have to keep their property safe for anyone who enters. This includes eliminating hazards and warning people of dangers that aren’t immediately obvious. It applies to all types of property—private property, public spaces, and leased spaces landlords and tenants share responsibility.

To recover damages in a premises liability claim, a party must prove:

• Duty: The property owner had a legal obligation to maintain a safe environment.
• Breach of duty: The owner failed to take reasonable steps to prevent or correct a hazard.
• Causation: The unsafe condition directly caused the injury or damage.
• Damages: The victim sustained measurable physical, emotional, or financial harm.

Court verdicts often hinge on foreseeability: whether the owner knew or should have known about the risks. For example, if a property is located in a known high-crime area, owners may be held liable for not having proper locks, lighting, security guards, cameras, or monitoring systems.

Traditional Security vs. the Rise of Tech and AI in Security

Traditional security is people-focused. It commonly includes human guards, concierge staff, patrol officers, and manual processes, relying on observation, judgment, and physical presence to keep a property safe. Despite specific strengths (guards can assess body language, tone, and intent and can adapt to unexpected or complex situations), traditional security also has some weaknesses. Coverage is often limited, human error (fatigue, distraction, and bias) can reduce its effectiveness, lack of training and the expense of 24/7 staffing can be prohibitive for some organizations.

Technology-driven security is systems-based. It typically involves video surveillance, access control, motion detectors, metal detectors, intrusion detection and alarms, and intercoms monitored by humans from a security control room. These systems generally provide wider coverage than traditional methods, since cameras and sensors can monitor multiple areas simultaneously. Tech-driven security also provides video footage and logs that can serve as evidence in a premises liability case. In addition, the presence of visible security systems can discourage criminal activity.

However, tech-driven security has certain drawbacks: Although a camera can record wrongdoing, it can’t stop an incident in real time without human intervention. Security systems aren’t autonomous—they require regular updates, repairs, and proper placement. Technology can also provide a false sense of security; just because the equipment is there doesn’t necessarily mean an area is being actively monitored.

AI-powered security is a game-changer. It enhances the way buildings, facilities, and physical spaces are protected against threats like theft, vandalism, trespassing, and violent crime. Instead of relying on human guards or traditional cameras, AI-powered systems analyze real-time data from security hardware, such as video cameras, motion sensors, access control systems, and alarms, to detect suspicious patterns, predict potential risks, and trigger faster, more targeted responses.

The key components of an AI-powered security system include:

• Video analytics and object recognition: Identifies people, vehicles, and objects in real time and can flag anomalies like unattended bags, loitering, or perimeter breaches.
• Facial recognition and identity verification: Matches faces against data in authorized personnel databases and can alert staff when a banned or flagged individual enters a restricted area.
• Behavioral analysis: Tracks patterns of movement and behavior to identify threats before they escalate.
• Automated access control: Uses AI to manage and log entry permissions, revoke access instantly, and detect unauthorized entry behind an individual with access.
• Predictive threat detection: Analyzes historical security incidents and environmental factors to predict higher-risk times or locations.
• Integrated incident response: Automatically notifies guards, locks doors, or activates alarms when a threat is detected and can integrate with local public safety agencies or private monitoring centers.

AI-powered security has several distinct advantages over traditional systems. AI processes video and sensor data in milliseconds, much faster than human operators can react. These systems can monitor hundreds of cameras and data streams simultaneously, with no fatigue, distraction, or shift changes to increase risk. AI-powered security automatically tags and stores relevant footage for use as evidence in investigations or court cases.

AI also has its drawbacks. It has been known to misinterpret innocent actions or misidentify individuals. Facial recognition and tracking have raised regulatory and ethical concerns, and security teams may become overly reliant on automation, potentially overlooking manual checks. If AI-powered security fails to respond because the system is poorly configured, liability risk can actually increase because the property owner is shown to have had the means to prevent harm but failed to act.

However, when appropriately used, AI-powered systems can:

• Prevent security incidents before they happen.
• Document an organization’s response efforts.
• Provide parties with an effective legal defense against premises liability allegations: “Reasonable security measures were in place.”

While no system is perfect and all have pros and cons, a cohesive security strategy that features a combination of human, technology, and AI systems will often make the difference between a close call and a crisis.