During a training session Friday, the Selma Police Department received an update on the traffic camera recently installed at the corner of J.L. Chestnut Boulevard and Franklin Street,

The numbers, Selma Chief of Police William T. Riley said, were staggering.

In a period from June 29 to July 15, there were 560 violations, and Riley said that was from surveillance in only one direction.

Many of the violations, Riley said, were from people making right turns on red lights.

“A lot of them never slowed down and did what we call a California roll,” he said. “There are a lot of people who never slow down to check to see if anything is coming, they just go right through.”

The numbers, Riley said, confirmed what the department already suspected.

“We have a problem,” he said. “People need to understand that when we talk about the cameras. We are lucky we haven’t had a lot of accidents.”

The numbers, Riley said, were higher than expected and are a wakeup call.

“That’s just too many,” he said. “Especially at a busy intersection like that. Soon the warnings will start going out, and we hope that will be an attention getter.”

The cameras are in the process of a 30-day notice period, which ends July 29. After July 29, Riley said they will begin issuing violations.

The cameras, Riley said, will operate 24 hours a day. The department will review each violation before a ticket is issued.

Traffic light cameras will have a number of functions, Riley said.

In addition to provide evidence for issuing citations for traffic light violations, Riley said the cameras can also help the police in tracking down criminals or settling disputes over who is at fault in an accident.

“If there is a shooting or something like that, we can check the camera and see if a suspect went through the area,” he said.

“Or if officers arrive on the scene of an accident and there is a debate about who is at fault, they can check it out. That could help a lot of people with their insurance.”