I read your article about red light running in Plymouth with interest. I worked as a police sergeant in Plymouth until 1998. I went on to police chief in Grafton, and then in Gulf Breeze, FL.
In Florida we had almost exactly the red-light situation that you described in your article, and it led to numerous traffic crashes. With traffic volumes of 57,000 cars per day; there was no feasible way to enforce red light running that was effective. Our community adopted a bylaw that allowed us to enforce red light running by using camera enforcement. That action led to a reduction in traffic crashes and the bylaw became the model for the red-light camera legislation that was adopted several years later by the state of Florida.
It took bold action on the part of the city, perseverance and persistence on the part of the police, creative implementation and adoption of the bylaw and the buy-in from the community. We were the pioneering police department in the state of Florida to act in this manner and the program remains viable and effective to this day.
– Chief Peter Paulding, ret.