Prior similar incidents include crimes on the premises or in the immediate vicinity, established through incident reports, police call records, and crime statistics for the address.
Similarity in type, location, and recency affects weight.
Alternative Names:
Prior Crimes, Prior Criminal Incidents
Why it Matters?
Police call records for the address are the most productive discovery in negligent security cases, because they document incidents the property owner never reported and may claim not to have known about. In jurisdictions applying a strict prior similar incidents test, this evidence is dispositive of duty. Similarity requirements vary: some courts require crimes of the same type while others accept any violent crime as establishing general foreseeability.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Where is this evidence obtained?
How similar must prior crimes be?
