If you’re like most people in Denver, notice of a red-light-camera or photo-radar ticket prompts a gnashing of teeth and a subsequent writing of a check to pay the fine.

But if you’re a Denver city employee tooling around in a city car, apparently there is a different set of rules.

More than 600 citations issued to city employees went upaid between 2009 and mid-2012, according to a 9News investigation.

The city has been pushing hard on the automated traffic control front despite concerns from citizens about, for instance, the fairness of issuing a citation if a car rolls past a white stop line while coming to a halt.

And there have always been citizen questions about whether one really must pay these tickets — questions that have been difficult to get official answers to.

Yet the evidence is that citizens pay up, and it’s not cheap. The price if your front tires go past the stop-line at a red-light-camera intersection is $40. That goes to $75 if the rear tires go past, too.

The penalty for a photo-radar citation is $40, and $80 for a work or school zone violation.

However, the 9News story said hundreds of such citations went unpaid by city employees driving in publicly owned vehicles.

The police department — the very city agency charged with enforcing traffic laws — has the most unpaid tickets: 458.

According to the 9News story, the rules are different at the police department. While employees are not required to pay the citation, they get a mark on their “permanent record.”

Given how tough it is in Denver to fire a cop who lies or uses excessive force, it’s hard for us to imagine how a photo-radar ticket is going to affect their long-term prospects with the force. It’s not until the third citation in a year that they lose a day’s pay.

Despite that penalty, which is admittedly steep, it’s difficult to justify letting cops off the hook financially for any citations.

As for the rest of city employees who neglected to pay the citations, they ought to be whipping out their checkbooks as well. We appreciate Mayor Michael Hancock’s apparent recognition of that, and we look forward to seeing how he addresses this situation — particularly in light of plans to ask voters in November for a significant property tax increase.

At a minium, Denver cannot expect citizens to cough up the money for traffic tickets when employees don’t.