SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Intersections where Spokane installed red light cameras in 2008 in the name of safety saw an increase in crashes and injuries in the first year of the controversial program.

There were 38 collisions at the three intersections the year after the city began fining violators caught on tape. That’s up from 32 the previous year, according to police collision reports provided to The Spokesman-Review.

Injury accidents at the intersections also rose from 11 the year before to 14 after.

Spokane Mayor Mary Verner called the data “interesting,” but cautioned that it’s too early to make a final judgment on camera enforcement.

“The program has been effective in that we seem to have caught a lot of people running red lights,” Verner said. “If we’re not seeing a decline of injury collisions, then we need to figure out why not.”

The numbers contrast with predictions made when the camera program was approved — that collisions and injuries would decline because drivers would be less willing to run red lights. In the first year of the program the number of crashes at the intersections that police blamed on running red lights held steady at 11.

Traffic safety experts caution that crash statistics fluctuate every year and that it’s difficult to prove cause and effect with only a year’s worth of data. Police say they’re confident that crash numbers will fall as the public becomes more aware of the cameras.

“Typically, there might be a slight increase (in the first year),” said Officer Teresa Fuller, who examines camera violations before tickets are issued. “But those go down in the second year of the program.”

The city began fining red light violators caught on camera Nov. 1, 2008. Two cameras are at Francis Avenue and Division Street. One camera monitors Sprague Avenue and Browne Street, and another is at Mission Avenue and Hamilton Street.

Fuller said the department expects to complete its examination of the program’s first year later this month. The department also plans to expand the program to four other intersections later this year.

About 80 crash records were provided to The Spokesman-Review through a public records request that asked for all collision reports at the camera locations for the year before the program started and the first year the cameras were in use. Of the reports provided, about 10 were not included in the analysis because they did not result in injuries or at least $700 in damage, or because they were unrelated to the intersections.

Camera enforcement has become increasingly popular throughout the United States, and proponents say cameras decrease injuries and crashes without the need to hire more officers. Some independent research, however, has shown they can have mixed results, and critics argue that the programs are motivated by officials looking to balance budgets.