Sixteen-year-old James' first brush with the law came four years ago when he placed a homemade bomb next to a church door.
"My Scoutmaster caught me," he said. Police were called. James said he read in a book how to make the bomb, which did not explode.James' next crime? "I can't really remember," he said. But he recalls his latest arrest. Public intoxication - the cops busted him at a party last month. James tried to run but was caught.
In the years between the attempted bombing and the most recent drunkenness, James has broken into homes and cars, possessed and sold marijuana and assaulted people. He says he has 38 criminal charges against him.
James said he steals to get money. "I don't like working," he said.
On this day, he faced a hearing in juvenile court. He thought he might be headed for Decker Lake Youth Center, a correctional facility in West Valley City.
Doing time in a detention center doesn't seem to faze James or his friends. They've got the juvenile justice system figured out, knowing that serious jail time doesn't come until after their 18th birthday. "We're not adults yet. We still have two years until we're adults," he said.
And after that? Will James be able to simply pull the plug on crime? By his own admission, probably not.
"I know I'm going to be in trouble when I'm an adult. I love the rush," he said.
A fledgling Provo Police Department program would work to prevent James and those like him from seeing the inside of a prison. The department formed a new juvenile crime section headed by Sgt. David Bolda. In the next two months, it will assign four full-time officers to the unit.
The next time James commits a crime in Provo, a police officer will "own" him. Whenever he gets in trouble, that officer will be on his case. Not necessarily to harass him but to find out why he repeatedly breaks the law. Officers are to get into teenage criminals' psyche, understand their background, their home life.
"We want to select officers who have the ability and sensitivity to understand we are not just busting kids," said Chief Swen Nielsen said. "We're not talking about a program to land more juveniles in jail."
The program will focus on a small number of teenagers who account for a disproportionate amount of crime, with an emphasis on existing and emerging gang leaders.
Officers in the juvenile section will discuss specific teenagers' cases with a recently created juvenile crime advisory council. The council includes representatives from schools, churches, mental health services, juvenile court, state family services, neighborhoods and the PTA. They're people in the trenches.
"We don't need another group of community leaders to tell us we have a problem. We know that. We don't want a group of people to tell us what we've done in the past hasn't been effective. We know that," Nielsen said.
In the past three years, juvenile arrests in Provo have soared 49 percent. There was a 46 percent increase in serious crimes, such as aggravated assault, robbery and other felonies.
Violent crime among juveniles has skyrocketed a startling 174 percent, the most disturbing statistic, according to Nielsen.
Furthermore, of the teenagers on probation in 1982, 10 percent had seven or more juvenile court referrals. Ten years later, that number ballooned to 37 percent.
The advisory board is to provide direction to help troubled teens turn their lives around. It will rely heavily on the full spectrum of community resources available for teenagers, both private and governmental, and could recommend approaches outside the juvenile justice system.
"We want to know why they're doing this. This is not a flash in the pan. We're in this for the long haul," Nielsen said.
Several teenagers who spoke with the Deseret News said they commit crime simply because it's fun - similar to a sport. Teenagers like to be daring, to see if they can make the big play. Pulling of a "beer run" at the local convenience store brings a teenager the same surge of adrenaline a basketball player gets after an earth-shaking slam dunk.
Mark, 17, says he's done "just about everything." He then modified that to "just the basic juvenile things" - burglary, assault, possession of a deadly weapon.
He said he's not sure why he gets involved in illegal activity.
"Usually it just happens," he said. "I don't know. It's not what I plan to do. It just happens. Trouble seems to follow me wherever I go."
"At the time, there must be nothing better to do," Mark said.
Seventeen-year-old Melissa said she started shoplifting to get attention. After several arrests, she said, her mother and father seemed to give up on her.
"My parents finally told me they don't give a damn anymore," she said.
And with its new juvenile-crime program, Provo police officers are hoping they can reach some of the teenagers who don't care anymore, either.