MANTECA — The City of Manteca is cracking down on red light runners. The police department says they've already issued over 500 citations in one month, and not all of their red light cameras are up and running yet.

Eventually, there will be multiple intersections where these cameras will be — 14 right-of-ways in total — to catch people breaking the law.

It's at busy intersections like Daniels St. and Airport Way where you can see multiple red light cameras.

"It's a bit surprising, maybe alarming, that many people are running a red light," said Manteca Police Chief Stephen Schluer.

Chief Schluer said there were 527 red-light citations issued during the month of May in the city. He says the city has five red light cameras that are already active, but people are still driving "10 to 15 miles per hour over the speed limit as they just run through a red light."

Each violation costs drivers a $490 fine, and a portion of it goes back into the department.

"That goes back into the red light camera fund. We pay our bill of $5,250 per approach, and the remaining of that stays in the general fund for the police department," Schluer said.

The goal is to use the money to hire a community service officer to handle smaller incidents.

"Free up our traffic officers by taking minor collisions, to continue doing their daily duties of writing citations, patrolling," he said.

Nine more cameras will become active once they're online and after their 30-day grace periods, where drivers are issued warnings instead of citations. All are expected to be online later this year.

"This isn't for revenue. It's for safety," Schluer said. "If people are stopping at red lights, they're stopping at others too because it becomes a habit."

Next February, Schluer will give a presentation to the council on its total number of citations and the program's effectiveness, and the council can decide if it's worth continuing.

• Manteca
• San Joaquin County