COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Colorado Springs City Council gave preliminary approval to red light cameras in Colorado Springs at a meeting Tuesday night. Council voted 5-4 in favor of installing four red light cameras around the city.

The cameras will detect when peole run red lights, snap photos of the drivers' faces and the cars' license plates.

The owners of the cars will then be mailed a $75 ticket.

The 5-4 vote shows council member were pretty deeply divided on this issue.

But it did pass and later this year automated cameras could be watching you as you drive through selected intersections.

Police hope to prevent accidents when a driver runs a light with the new red-light cameras. The dwindling police force doesn’t have the manpower to put officers at the worst intersections. So they are looking to the unblinking eye of cameras to fill the gap.

"Our officers that used to do primary traffic enforcement have been assigned  park patrol duties, hotspot criminal enforcement special events, escorts etc so they are fairly busy and they are not 100 percent dedicated to traffic safety as they were in the past," said commander. Brian Grady of the Colorado Springs Police Department.

Besides snapping pictures of the violators' faces and license plates, the cameras will also capture 12 seconds of video.

The cameras can only operate in a single direction. So each intersection will only have one of the four directions covered.

Councilman Sean Paige voted against the cameras.

"I’m disappointed that it was approved. I don’t think the timing is right for this. I don’t think it's been shown statistically to help with public safety that much," Paige said.

The cameras will cover northbound Nevada Avenue at Bijou Street, eastbound Barnes Street at Oro Blanco Stree, westbound Platte Avenue at Murray Boulvard and westbound Platte Avenue at Circle Drive.

Some people at Tuesday's meeting accused the city of using the plan to stuff its pockets.

"I think we lose a lot of respect for law enforcement when we turn law enforcement -- or at least create the perception -- that it's a revenue-generating device," Paige said.

For now the cameras will only cover red light runners, not speeding. But that will likely change.

"The contract does allow it to expand up to 10 [cameras]. It also allows the introduction of the photo radar which we are going to delay until we see the impact it is going to have on municipal court operations," Grady said.

Police say once the cameras are ready they will send out warnings for the first month.

The plan still has to go through a city council second vote on June 22. But there is no indication that the outcome will be any different in two weeks.