CLEVELAND -- More than 5,000 people have contested tickets they got from Cleveland's red-light cameras.

Chief Investigator Duane Pohlman took his questions and concerns about the cameras accuracy to Cleveland's mayor. Jackson gives a green light to the red-light cameras.

Pohlman: "Do you support the red light program?"

Mayor Frank Jackson: "Yes."

Pohlman: "Why?"

Jackson: "Because it is the law."

Pohlman found many people who don't agree with the mayor.

"I think we should get rid of them," one motorist said.

Tickets from the red-light cameras $100 a piece. Last year, the city of Cleveland issued nearly 60,000 tickets raising $5.8 million in revenue.

Jackson said the program is all about safety.

Pohlman: "How can you support a program and say it's about safety?"

Jackson: "Again, I am saying it is about safety and as a result of the program it produces revenue at the same time."

Jim Coleman and his wife, Brianne, owed the city of Cleveland $1,000 for 10 tickets issued in less than a month.

Video: Pohlman Confronts Mayor | Video: Motorists' Challenge | Images: Red-Light Camera Mistakes | Part 1

Briannne admits she did speed, and this camera captured her again and again and again on Prospect Avenue.

Brianne: "I didn't know it was 25 mph until I got a ticket."

Pohlman: "When did you figure it out?"

Brianne: "Four weeks after I got the first letter."

She said she never got a warning, only ticket after ticket after ticket.

"One ticket it would have been over. If a cop would have stopped me," Brianne said. "I would like to take my baseball bat to it.

5 On Your Side already proved the cameras aren't perfect, Pohlman said. (Read Previous Story)

Wrong Vehicle

Bill and Sue Faber, of Massillon, said they haven't been in Cleveland for six months, but the city sent them a ticket.

"No way we could be in Cleveland," Faber said.

"Do you have witnesses for that?" Pohlman asked.

"Yes, we do," Faber said.

Yet Cleveland sent the ticket showing a car speeding, but the plate belongs to the Faber's truck.

Pohlman said you can't read the license in the picture at all. He said it appears Cleveland guessed and sent the ticket anyway.

"I always thought we were always innocent until proven guilty and now I find it's guilty until I can prove I'm innocent," Faber said.

After NewsChannel5 got involved, the city backed off, writing a letter informing the Fabers that the city made a mistake.

Other Car Speeding

And Pohlman proved it with Mr. Math, Case Western University math professor Chris Butler.

"If you know the distance and you know the time you can calculate the speed," Butler said.

The city claimed 5 On Your Side videographer Dave Hatala was speeding and gave him a ticket.

However, Butler proved the city made a mistake -- it was really another car that was speeding.

"Given what we measured, it looks more reasonable that the dark car was going 48 mph, not the white van," Butler said.

Hatala won his case in court.

"Becomes pretty clear that it wasn't your vehicle that was speeding," the judge said.

Court Records

5 On Your Side asked for public records dealing with red-light cameras. After battling for six months, the city delivered very few documents, Pohlman said.

What the lawyers were able to get were red-light records of all court hearings. Pohlman said they showed some surprising numbers.

In 2006, there were 5,200 court hearings where people, like Hatala, contested tickets from the red-light cameras.

Records showed that in one out of every four of cases there were enough problems with the cameras to toss out the ticket or reduce the fine.

Pohlman: "How can you in good conscience allow a ticket of $100 to just go out when you know you have problems with the red lights?"

Jackson: "How can I in good conscience allow a person to violate the law?"

Jackson is digging his heals in about the cameras, Pohlman said.

Pohlman: "But the cameras don't always show a violation of the law."

Jackson: "Then they don't have to pay."

Pohlman: "But they have to come down to court."

Jackson: "They don't have to pay. It's a process."

Jackson, like other city leaders, continues giving the green light to the red-light cameras.

Jackson: "Why don't you just ask the real question you really want to and ask if we will get rid of the red-light cameras and the speed cameras?"

Pohlman: "Well, let's ask it. Would you?"

Jackson: "No. I won't."