HONOLULU (KHON2) — City council members plan to propose the creation of a task force to address the ongoing issue of illegal game rooms.
The Honolulu Police Department (HPD) confirmed several illegal game rooms were busted in McCully Wednesday night on June 5. More than 50 gambling machines were seized along with cash and a firearm, per HPD. The raids occurred near Young Street and Pawaa Lane.
"They bring a lot of unwanted and illegal activities into the community," stated Makiki Neighborhood Board Chair Ian Ross. "Simply put, just chatting with people and hearing about how they feel scared to live next to illegal game rooms."
Neighbors in the area said they've noticed countless cars parked in front of the buildings with people constantly going in and out for months before the raids. City council members are now proposing an illegal game room task force to help during investigations and raids.
"It's making sure that the landlords are held accountable and how we can prosecute them. It's also making sure that when HPD goes in and collects all the evidence, they're also looking for other things that can be used in a criminal case," stated City Councilmember Tyler Dos Santos-Tam.
The task force would meet on a regular basis and have a report within 90 days of being put into effect, according to Dos Santos-Tam. He hopes the task force will be formed by this summer.
"We can do a lot better than we are right now. The current situation for illegal game rooms is they're proliferating and opening up at a faster rate than we've ever seen before," stated Ross.