WORCESTER, Mass. - The City of Worcester is ramping up its efforts to catch people who illegally dump trash in the city with the help of additional surveillance cameras.

Grant funding from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection will help pay for the cameras, which will be strategically placed in areas where people have been repeatedly dumping trash.

It's a tactic the city has already been using to catch people red-handed, but the grant funding will help expand from two cameras to six.

Chief Sustainability Officer John Odell was unable to share where the existing or new cameras will be located, but he hopes they draw more attention to the broader efforts his department is undertaking.

"This is a piece of the larger puzzle, we're trying to make sure that we properly manage our waste," Odell said. "The longterm solution is getting to a zero waste program throughout the city, that includes minimizing illegal dumping, but it also includes recycling, maximizing recycling efforts, minimizing the amount of trash that goes to the incinerator and so on."

If people are caught dumping trash in Worcester, they face a minimum $200 fine, but offenders could be fined up to $2,000.

The cameras will be managed in collaboration with the Worcester Police Department.