During contact with groups of gang members some officers may have a tendency to focus all their attention on the biggest and baddest looking males in the crowd while disregarding females and juveniles who might be there. Streetwise gang members have been known to predict this kind of behavior and have females and juveniles carry their weapons solely because they think officers may pay less attention to them.
When it comes to juveniles, it’s also important to remember that although seemingly less physically threatening, they may be highly motivated to attack you in the interest of gaining higher status and more respect from the group.
Disregarding the threat potential of those you might consider lower risk could be a potentially deadly mistake. Don’t do it.
