When Inadequate Security Leads to Crime: How Survivors and Families Can Seek Justice
On Saturday, December 13, 2025, a shooting inside Brown University’s Barus & Holley engineering building in Providence left two students dead and nine others injured. In the days that followed, authorities released images and video of a person of interest. They also asked residents and businesses on Providence’s East Side to review and share any relevant camera footage, including that from home security cameras and dashcams.
Although Brown’s campus has extensive camera coverage overall, law enforcement has said there is no clear interior video from inside the engineering building. According to reports from WCVB, the building itself has limited camera presence.
For survivors and families, the early days after a violent crime are often a blur of shock, fear, and grief. When violence erupts in a place that should feel safe, be that a shopping center, concert venue, or university campus, questions about accountability can’t help but arise. With these comes another question: if preventable or foreseeable failures played a role in allowing a violent crime to occur, what are the civil options for those who survive these attacks and the families of those who do not?
Mandell, Boisclair & Mandell Helps Survivors Seek Justice
If you were harmed or a loved one was killed in a violent act, you deserve straight answers and a legal team that takes your loss and your pain seriously. Mandell, Boisclair & Mandell helps families and survivors pursue civil accountability for catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases.
Call our Providence office at 401-273-8330 today for a free and confidential consultation where we can listen to your story, discuss your legal options, and help you begin the process of seeking the justice you deserve.
What Is Negligent Security?
Property owners and operators are not required to guarantee public safety. However, when they invite people onto their property, such as a person on the premises for a business transaction or a student in an academic building at a university, they are legally required to take reasonable steps to protect these people from foreseeable harm, including certain criminal acts by a third party. Failure to do so can make the property owner liable for damages that occur under premises liability law.
Negligent security cases fall under premises liability, focusing on whether reasonable precautions were missing, delayed, broken, or ignored. They often include issues such as
- Malfunctioning locks
- Uncontrolled or unmonitored access
- Inadequate lighting in entrances, hallways, stairwells, and parking areas
- Inadequate cameras or monitoring devices
- Poor security staffing, patrols, or trained personnel
- Inadequate protocols for closing, lockdown, and emergency response
- Failure to address known weak points, such as broken doors, propped entrances, and blind spots
In a civil claim for damages related to injuries suffered due to negligent security, it must be shown that basic safety steps were not taken when they should have been, and that the failure to take these steps contributed to the harm suffered by victims and survivors of the tragedy. This sometimes requires holding powerful corporations, private institutions, and even state and federal government entities accountable.
Mandell, Boisclair & Mandell has secured landmark decisions for victims of catastrophic injury in cases involving the federal government, and has a proud history of holding state and private institutions accountable when their actions, or inaction, have contributed to injury or death.
Civil Justice for Survivors
After a violent crime, when the suspect is caught, criminal cases focus on whether the offender should be convicted or punished. Civil law is different. With civil proceedings, the focus is on who is legally responsible for the harm and what compensation is justified for helping survivors rebuild.
When negligent security plays a role in allowing a violent crime like a mass shooting to take place, survivors may be able to pursue compensation from responsible third parties, including a school campus, hospital, or venue. This can provide much-needed funds for medical care, counseling, lost income, and the long-term support those impacted by traumatic situations often need to make a full physical and emotional recovery.
Equally important, civil liability can force safety changes. When institutions cut corners, civil cases can bring those decisions to light. This can help to improve policy, increase oversight, and prevent others from suffering similar harms.
Mandell, Boisclair & Mandell has long stood with survivors of violent and life-altering crimes. We work tirelessly to assist those impacted by violent crime in seeking fair and full compensation for the physical, emotional, and financial damages they have endured.
The state of Rhode Island also has a crime victim compensation fund that can assist survivors in paying for medical expenses, lost earnings, and more. Importantly, receiving compensation from this fund does not impact your right to file a civil lawsuit. The compassionate and experienced lawyers at Mandell, Boisclair & Mandell can assist you in navigating both systems.
How Families Can Seek Justice After Campus Shootings and Other Violent Crimes
When a loved one is killed in a violent crime, Rhode Island’s wrongful death laws provide a path for families to seek compensation for end-of-life and other financial expenses, along with emotional losses through a wrongful death lawsuit.
When a fatal attack occurs on a property where reasonable safety measures may have been missing, surviving family members might have grounds to explore whether theories of negligent security apply. These claims rely on evidence, such as known risks, inadequate security policies, insufficient monitoring, poor camera placement, staffing shortfalls, maintenance irregularities, and more, but are not held to the same “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard as criminal cases. In fact, criminal proceedings have no bearing on a family’s right to bring a wrongful death suit against a negligent property owner, institution, or entity. When a loved one is killed through violence, families can pursue justice through civil action regardless of the actions taken by the state.
Have You Been the Victim of a Violent Crime? Mandell, Boisclair & Mandell Is Here to Help
In the aftermath of violence, families often feel like they are expected to be strong. In the face of grief, sudden end-of-life planning, and thousands of unanswered questions, that is an unfair expectation. This is where our firm steps in.
Mandell, Boisclair & Mandell has served Rhode Island families in catastrophic injury and wrongful death matters for decades. Leading with compassion for survivors, victims, and their families, we truly listen, take time to answer all questions, and provide straightforward, actionable advice on how to seek justice and begin the process of recovery.
When the facts of a case point to institutional failure, be that a landlord, business, venue operator, public or private college, or government entity, we move quickly to preserve evidence and press the case with the seriousness it deserves. We remain directly available to those we represent and are never dismissive of the needs of those we serve. We are fully committed to justice for victims and survivors of violent crime and serious injury, and have the proven ability and unyielding drive to take cases as far as necessary to secure the fair and full compensation they demand.
Our Job Is to Listen. Talk to Us for Free
If you are the survivor of a significant crime like a mass shooting or have lost a loved one to a violent act, Mandell, Boisclair & Mandell is here to listen, advise, and assist. Use our online contact form or call our Providence office today to schedule your obligation- and cost-free consultation and let us help you understand your rights, your options, and how to start on the path towards healing. We proudly stand with individuals and families in Rhode Island and all nearby areas of Massachusetts.
