As heavy traffic piled up on Mesa and Restler during rush hour late Thursday afternoon, workers installed one of the first red-light cameras in El Paso.

Many people,including those at the El Paso Police Department, see red-light cameras as the way to go in order to prevent deadly collisions.

"Well, it doesn't bother me, it's ok. You know if you are going to be running a red light then you are going to be getting caught, and if you are not going to be running red lights then what's the problem?" said Gilbert Gonzalez from West El Paso.

Others disagreed.

"I just think that it is just a violation of your privacy," said Michelle Najera from West El Paso.

Despite the ongoing controversy, the city of El Paso moved forward Thursday with its red-light camera plan, installing three sets of cameras.

One set is at the intersection of Mesa Hills and Sunland Park; The others are at Hawkins and Montana and at Mesa and Restler.

Tri State Electric will be putting up cameras all around the intersections to monitor every angle. But, the El Paso Police Department said the cameras are not.

Instead, the El Paso Police Department said the cameras will stay off for a while, as a warning to those drivers who accelerate through yellow lights that they may soon be caught on tape and fined for their actions.

El Paso police said they plan on turning on the red-light cameras sometime late next week or early the following week.

When the cameras are turned on, the El Paso Police Department said there will be a 30-day warning period and then drivers will be ticketed after that.

Police couldn't tell KFOX where the next cameras will be installed, but they hope to know by the end of this week.