The Police Department wants to continue its red-light camera enforcement program despite costing the city $2.5 million in the last two years due to a high number of uncollected tickets.

In a report released Thursday, Police Chief Charlie Beck recommended that the civilian board that oversees the department approve continuing the program when it meets next week. The report said the cameras have shown to reduce collisions resulting from drivers running red lights at 32 city intersections.

The report was issued in response to a September audit that raised doubts about the effectiveness of the program. The audit found that operating the red-light cameras, coupled with 45 percent of tickets that have gone uncollected, cost the city $2.5 million.

Police acknowledged that about 56,000 citations worth more than $7 million in potential revenue remain tied up in court. The report blamed Los Angeles County Superior Court for not aggressively collecting unpaid tickets by asking the state Department of Motor Vehicles to place a hold on violators' drivers licenses.

Such a hold would prevent them from renewing their license until they resolve their citations and serve as an effective collection tool. The report said police and other Los Angeles officials urged court officials to change policy to increase the collection rate, but the discussions have "not proven successful."

The audit also criticized police decision to install some of the cameras at each of the city's 15 City Council districts, bypassing certain intersections that were deemed the most dangerous in the city.

Police acknowledged in the report that choosing to install the cameras at each council district "may have been too narrow" and that it would pick intersections with the highest risk intersections in future contracts with companies that will operate the cameras.