UPLANDS PARK • Missouri transportation officials are looking into this tiny village's use of a mobile speed camera on a short stretch of Natural Bridge Road — a state highway where camera use is restricted.

The use of photo enforcement on Missouri highways is supposed to be limited to school and construction zones, as well as certain highways considered prone to accidents.

Uplands Park Police Chief Antwan Easterwood said the manned, camera-equipped Ford Escape has been deployed to Natural Bridge for the last couple of weeks. The camera is in its initial trial phase, and speeders are receiving only warnings for now.

The goal, he said, is to improve safety.

"We've had a lot of speeders come through here," Easterwood said. "We've had accidents up here on Natural Bridge. We've had pedestrians struck."

But Tom Blair, assistant district engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation, said the agency has not approved the use of photo enforcement on Natural Bridge. But MoDOT has not told the village to remove it.

Under a statewide policy passed this year by the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, speed cameras are limited to school zones, MoDOT work zones and so-called Travel Safe zones that have higher incidence of crashes. None of those speed camera regulations appear to apply to the section of Natural Bridge.

"We are now sort of looking into it," Blair said. "Just like we did initially when we were made aware of Charlack."

Between July 2010 and January of this year, Charlack had a camera monitoring Interstate 170 traffic from the Lackland Road overpass. The town removed it in January after declaring it a success in reducing speed.

Easterwood said he has spoken to a MoDOT representative and was led to believe that the camera is permitted in Uplands Park.

Several small communities have deployed them on local roads as well.

"It would be messed up if anybody could strap a radar gun and a camera to an SUV and call it a speed camera," said state Rep. Clem Smith, D-St. Louis, who represents that area.

Smith said he has received phone calls from constituents complaining about the Uplands Park speed camera. He shared his concerns with MoDOT last week.

Uplands Park Village Chairman Henry Iwenofu said the new speed enforcement vehicle will enable the city to enforce speed laws without having to engage in potentially dangerous chases.

"Technology makes it easy," Iwenofu said. "Instead of having the vehicle chase you, we just mail (the ticket) to you."

Two years ago, an Uplands Park police officer chased a speeding car into the city of St. Louis before that car crashed and killed a mother of four. The 17-year-old driver who led police on the chase pleaded guilty in February of second-degree felony murder and vehicle tampering and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Uplands Park was named in a wrongful death suit brought by the family of the woman killed in the crash.

Uplands Park has contracted with Phoenix-based Redflex Traffic Systems for the mobile photo enforcement device.

Mobile units, like the one in Uplands Park, allow cities to move them to areas where speeding is a problem, said company spokesman Tom Herrmann. It works very similar to a radar system.

The speed limit on Natural Bridge through Uplands Park is 30 mph.

Easterwood said the system will be calibrated to ticket cars going 40 mph or faster.

When a vehicle exceeds that threshold speed, Herrmann said, it will produce an image of the vehicle and a record of the speed. Redflex gets the image, records the speed and reviews the image clarity.

"We forward that to local law enforcement," Herrmann said. Police "will make the decision on whether to issue a ticket."

Speed camera critics have cast them as moneymakers for the communities that use them.

St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch, who has been an outspoken opponent of the use of unregulated speed cameras, says financially strapped communities use them solely to make money.

"Have you ever noticed how the more revenue-deprived a community is, the more interested in highway safety they are?" he said. "If Uplands Park didn't have a revenue problem, they wouldn't have a speed camera. ... Police authority should not be used for the purpose of generating revenue for a community."

Fitch cited Illinois as a success story when it comes to the regulation of speed cameras. By law, only the Illinois State Police are allowed to use them and only in construction zones.

Without a law to back it up, MoDOT's policy is useless because there is no way to enforce it. Likewise, Fitch wonders whether a community would ever issue an arrest warrant or hire a collection agency to go after those who don't pay their speed camera tickets.

"Until the state decides that it is not acceptable for a community to prey on motorists driving through, this will continue," he said. "There's absolutely nothing (MoDOT) can do about it. They're just hoping people comply with it just like Uplands Park is hoping people will pay these tickets."

Blair, of MoDOT, said the state was still determining whether the Uplands Park speed camera complies with MoDOT policy. If not, he said, the state will likely work with the Police Department on a suitable placement along Natural Bridge.

Easterwood said motorists will see a sign notifying them of photo enforcement.

It is unclear how much the speeding tickets will cost, but Easterwood said it would be in the neighborhood of $100. He defended the mobile camera.

"Unfortunately it's a violation," Easterwood said. "I understand some people are going to be angry. However, if you're doing the speed limit, you should be OK."

Christine Byers of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.