With the end of the 30-day grace period, vehicles caught running red lights will be photographed and drivers will be fined $75.
The effort, called the Red Light Enforcement Program, officially began at midnight today.
During the grace period, motorists were mailed warning citations.
When a light goes from yellow to red, the Redflex Traffic System camera will take three photographs and video of any vehicles in the intersection.
Police said the system is only activated once the light changes from yellow to red.
The first photographs will be taken of the intersection before the violation; the second image is of any vehicles in the intersection after the light change; and a third snapshot will show the license plates of the offending vehicle.
The video will record activity in the area six seconds before the violation and six seconds afterward.
A Harlingen officer reviews every violation before a citation is written and mailed, police said.
Authorities expect to have nine cameras by the end of the year, said David Osborne, spokesman for the Harlingen Police Department. There s potential for more, depending on the success rate of the program.
The sites with active cameras where officials did a test-drive of the program include the frontage roads at Tyler and Harrison avenues, and Ed Carey Drive and Business 77/Sunshine Strip.
"These cameras have recorded 848 violations in 30 days," Osborne said. "That s 848 potential accidents.
It s kind of a high number and we expect it to drop soon."
The program and cameras are funded by violators fines and not taxpayers, police said.
When the camera at Tyler and the frontage roads was switched on March 30, Police Chief Danny Castillo said that in 18 months, there were 283 collisions at the five intersections where HPD expects to install cameras.
On Monday, Osborne said authorities expected to see a high number of violations recorded on the city s first red light cameras.
"They re high numbers initially, but once the cameras are in place, people become more aware and start to slow down," he said.
"We re looking for it to help lower the number of accidents at all the intersections by enforcing the red lights.
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