The Weslaco Police Department says the start of the school year is when they see more juvenile offenses.

Right now, more teens are going into their juvenile offenders program for vaping and THC related incidents. 

"Mine happened to be just a little bit, a few of all of them," 20-year-old University of Texas Rio Grande Valley student Favian Villa said.

Villa was 14 when he found himself using drugs and was part of a toxic relationship.

When his school district found out, Villa was removed from campus.

When he went before a judge for his crimes, he was offered a chance to reinvent himself.

The First Offenders Program is for a teen's first run in with police, and serious crimes make them ineligible. 

Villa was allowed into the program, and he worked with a social worker through Pharr Police Department's program. Weslaco police launched a similar program four years ago.

"The First Offenders Program gives a second chance to these students," Weslaco Police Chief Joel Rivera said.

It doesn't cost students or their parents' money, but they pay in effort and time. 

"They have to go through classes. The parents, at least one parent, and the child have to through classes," Rivera said.

The program is two classes per week for six weeks.

Rivera said once the program is completed, the student's record is expunged.

"That offense didn't happen, so they get one chance at that. Subsequent offenses are charged accordingly," Rivera said.

He says since Weslaco started the program in 2019, they've seen a 91 percent success rate of no repeat offenses.

"Once they've finished, and they've gone through the program, we continue to monitor them because there's a probationary period," Rivera said.

One of the newer resources in the works is called Empowering Choices.

The Weslaco Police Department and Weslaco Independent School District are in the process of piloting the program to help prevent vaping and drug use amongst students.

Watch the video above for the full story.