In Tampa, red light runners appear to be getting the message. Police say the number of people running through red-lights has decreased from last year.



Tampa Chief Financial Officer Sonya Little shared the statistics with the city council Thursday.

Little reported that the number of red-light citations that were issued for this fiscal year were 55,355, which dropped from last year's 62,697 tickets.



Police said that number also reflects the almost doubled number of cameras at intersections since the program first started in 2011.

"They become more careful," said Tampa Police Sgt. Carl Giguere. "They slow down and they watch for the light. They're no longer texting. They're no longer speeding when they go through the intersection because they know what's going to happen if they run the red light."

Wednesday, Tampa city council members reviewed the numbers and took a look at how much money the city was bringing in from the citations.

In 2012, the city collected $1.9 million in citations, but by 2013, around $1.6 million came into the city.

Council Chair Charlie Miranda had mixed reactions about the red-light cameras.

"I think it helps, but it doesn't fix the cause," Miranda said.

The cameras were installed at street corners with the most crashes. Councilman Miranda complained the fines collected by the city don't go to fix up the intersections.

Instead, the money goes to the city's general fund.

"The cause is to eliminate the problems that we have at the intersections and we're not doing that, so you'll continue to have accidents," Miranda said.

When it comes to accidents, police believe the red-light cameras have helped.

Meanwhile, police are hoping by next year, even more red-light runners will get the message: to simply stop on red.