I guess times have changed too much for me. I have had two tickets in my 68 years and was arrested as a 16 year old in VA for drinking a beer.
Even in the old days if you kept the crimes small enough you’d get fines and not much else. The jails just don’t have room for every underage drinker or guy caught with a small amount of dope or paraphernalia (my NIL’s favorite bust). And some folks just get lucky. My NIL got busted for check forgery twice, once in New Mexico where they didn’t realize what a loser he is and they gave him probation and a lazy PO so he never followed any of the conditions. The second time here in AZ where most of his record is, but the cops screwed up the paperwork and they wound up dropping the charges.