St. Petersburg city leaders are hearing an earful on the red light cameras around town.

Matt Florell said those cameras just aren't accurate. He admits he’s never been a fan of the city's red light cameras.

"It seems like it's being done for the money, not for safety. They're very secretive about details," he said.

Florell decided to investigate, pouring over hundreds of red light camera citations he requested from the city.

Florell said he thinks the cameras are faulty, and points to pictures showing a driver making a right turn at 96 miles-per-hour. Another shows a driver blowing through a red light at an impossible 200 miles-per-hour.



"They are defective," Florell claims.

He went to St. Pete City Council's meeting Thursday to ask members to look into the red light cameras' credibility and functionality before the city looks to install 10 more.



Council members admit they had no idea the transportation department was ready to add more.

"Why are they doing this without informing council, the public? Why did it come to me having to bring it up to the city council?" said Florell.

Council member Bill Dudley said it's all about the safety, not about revenue.

"He's extracting the data on his own. As you heard he's got a different format. If you want to get accurate he'd need to sit down and talk with our people," said Dudley.

That's exactly what Florell plans to do.

Meanwhile, city leaders have promised to look at the numbers over the next couple of weeks. They will analyze whether the cameras are catching red light runners.

Dudley said the numbers will speak for themselves.

The council will talk more about it later in the month, allowing public comment.

