6 things to know about Chicago's red-light cameras

Depending on who you ask, red-light cameras are supposed to make Chicago’s streets safer. Or they’re simply a cash cow for the city, with some saying the cameras are excessive and give unfair violations.

On top of that, the company behind the red-light cameras is under the microscope from the feds for alleged violations of their own.

Here are six things you should know about the city’s cameras:

1. They have a close eye on you. Did you know the cameras have 360-degree panning technology?

2. Smile, you’re on camera — Chicago has more red-light cameras than anywhere else in the United States.

3. Some of the tickets issued from being caught on camera are being questioned — 9,000 of them.

4. Even Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s police bodyguards have been nailed by the cameras.

5. Redflex Traffic Systems Inc. brought the cameras to the streets, but the company, along with former city worker John Bills (pictured), has been under federal investigation for a bribery scandal.

6. One of the key players in the scandal is now cooperating with the feds.