Red light cameras will stay in Lakeland, thanks to a new five-year deal city commissioners approved on March 19.

• Only one city commissioner voted against cameras
• American Traffic Solutions will continue to install, run cameras
• Cameras could be supplemented with new tech

Lakeland Police Chief Larry Giddens spoke in favor of the cameras at Monday’s city commission meeting.

“These people are breaking the law and getting caught,” said Giddens. “All we are trying to do is enforce the law and protect the public.”

“I see it as a matter of safety and I support it,” said Commissioner Scott Franklin of the new contract.

Commissioner Stephanie Madden also supported keeping the red light cameras, despite getting a ticket herself.

“I think I’ve had a ticket. My husband has had a ticket. My son Robert’s had a ticket," Madden said. "We’ve had at least five or six, but we’ve never had a repeat offender in our house."

Only Commissioner Michael Dunn voted against keeping the cameras, arguing instead that it might be better to hire more traffic enforcement officers.

One driver in Lakeland we spoke to, Brent Williams, said he wasn't fond of them, expressing the belief that they cause rear-end crashes when some drivers stop abruptly to keep from getting tickets.

“It’s a good revenue producer for the city," Williams said. "Unfortunately for the consumer, for the driver not a great idea."

Commissioners asked city staff to look into new technology that might give drivers a countdown to let them know how long they have before a yellow light turns red. That could also include technology that would use red light cameras to predict when someone was about to run a red light.

That, in turn, could stop the red light from the cross traffic from turning green until the offending vehicle had passed through the intersection.