SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego City Council will consider next week reinstating the controversial system that automatically tickets motorists who run red lights.

SOUND OFF Do You Support The Cameras?

The city turned off its red-light cameras in June 2001 after a public outcry about the way the program was run. But in a report released yesterday, police Chief Dave Bejarano recommended that the Red-Light Photo Enforcement Program be reinstated, with changes.

The system catches red-light runners by snapping a photo of the front license plate once a vehicle is in the intersection. A citation is mailed to the registered owner.

While those in favor of the cameras say they reduce accidents, motorists who were ticketed complained they were unfair.

A year ago, a judge dismissed nearly 300 traffic tickets, saying the cameras were legal but that the company operating the system was given too much control.

Lockheed Martin previously ran the city's red-light camera program, but has since sold its system to Affiliated Computer Services.

The old contract governing the red-light camera system had the city paying the company a fee for every conviction.

The recommendation before the City Council is to renegotiate the contract with ACS, restructuring the fee arrangement to eliminate any "perceived conflict of interest." The negotiated agreement still would have to be approved by the council.

Bejarano recommended that the program be restarted, but that another camera be installed to show a rear view of the vehicle, more warning signs be added at intersections with cameras, and engineering solutions found to improve safety at those intersections with cameras.

He also said speed surveys should be used to decide how long a light should be yellow at a given intersection.