I should clarify my opinion encompasses both red light and speed cameras.
I know when traffic cameras are used never 100% of violations caisght on camera are used. The jurisdiction has to experiment on the % of violations enforced. Too many and the public gets angry and votes you out of office. Too little and it is not a deterrent. So in some cases, these municipalities where they have been deemed not effective have neglected to do this optimization and started with a % too low of enforcements.
People just assume traffic cameras are a cash grab. But the purpose is to deter bad driving behaviour at a lower cost than having officers in the field. Fines are the stick, but if it means money for municipities to reinvest that into the city, then great. For each city, there will be a threshold of % violations enforced before it be comes effective.