Red-light cameras return

Boynton Beach, Pembroke Pines back in business

As some South Florida cities resume controversial red-light camera programs, one community says it’s seeing more redlight running than before.

Red-light cameras caught about 3,000 violators in the weeks after Boynton Beach reactivated the devices, dwarfing the number of those busted during the same period last year, police say.

After years of red-light cameras waning across South Florida, Boynton Beach and Pembroke Pines restarted their programs recently. They’re now among 20 other cities in the tricounty area still operating the devices.

Boynton, the only city in Palm Beach County with the program, resumed its contract with American Traffic September.

More than 1,000 drivers were warned for running red lights at seven intersections during a warning period between Sept. 1 and Sept. 14, said Boynton Beach Police Sgt. Phillip Hawkins. And since the city began fining redlight runners Sept. 15, nearly 2,000 drivers have been fined.

Overall, from Sept. 1 to Oct. 7, the city saw a 77 percent increase in red-light runners from the same time period in 2016, according to the Boynton Beach Solutions in Police Department.

Boynton received about $12,000 in revenue from the fines in October alone, though not all of that money came from people fined in the month of October.

Some of the $12,000 likely came from fines issued in September, or even from last year, as drivers still fight tickets in court, said Assistant City Manager Tim Howard.

The fine for running red