Opinion ID: 1179634
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Duty at Common Law

Text: At common law, there was no duty to protect people in general from the criminal acts of third persons: The general rule at common law is that a private person does not have a duty to protect others from the criminal acts of third parties. Hutchins v. 1001 Fourth Ave. Assocs., 116 Wash.2d 217, 223, 802 P.2d 1360 (1991) (citing Annot., Private Person's Duty and Liability for Failure to Protect Another Against Criminal Attack by Third Person, 10 A.L.R.3d 619, § 3 (1966)); accord Bartlett v. Hantover, 9 Wash.App. 614, 620, 513 P.2d 844 (1973) (As a general proposition, one citizen does not owe a duty to another citizen to protect the other against the criminal acts of a third person.) (citing W. PROSSER, TORTS § 33 (4th ed.1971)), rev'd on other grounds, 84 Wash.2d 426, 526 P.2d 1217 (1974). See also RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTSS § 315. In Hutchins v. 1001 Fourth Ave. Assocs., 116 Wash.2d 217, 802 P.2d 1360 (1991), we addressed the duty of a landowner to provide security measures to protect a passerby from the risk of criminal behavior on the premises. In that case, the plaintiff, while returning to his hotel in downtown Seattle, was accosted by a stranger, pushed into an armored car bay on the defendant's premises, and beaten and robbed by the stranger and an accomplice. We discussed both premises liability and the duty of a person to protect others from third party criminal conduct and found no duty owed under the facts of that case: [W]e hold that a possessor of land has no generalized duty to provide security measures on the premises so as to protect those off the premises, including passersby, from third party criminal activity on the premises. There may be an exception in the case of third party criminal actors invited or permitted on the land, and perhaps an exception in the case of known criminal activity by trespassers on the property, though we do not decide these issues here. There may be a further exception which will apply where defendant's construction or maintenance of the premises brings about a special or peculiar temptation or opportunity for criminal misconduct affecting those off the premises. Again, we do not conclusively define the parameters of any such duty. Id. at 233, 802 P.2d 1360.