HONOLULU — The Honolulu Police Department says there are 100 gaming rooms operating somewhere on Oahu each day.
HPD also says when local gambling parlors — which draw illegal drugs, weapons, prostitution and gun-related violence — are shut down by law enforcement, the lucrative operations tend to quickly reopen, sometimes in the same spot and often under new operators.
In a year’s time on average, only about 20 such illegal operations are shuttered here, police say.
But now the formation of a task force on gambling rooms — to include members of HPD and the city departments of the Prosecuting Attorney, Planning and Permitting, Corporation Counsel as well as the Honolulu City Council — is being proposed to further quash game rooms on the island.
Introduced in May by Council Chair Tommy Waters and Council member Tyler Dos-Santos Tam, Resolution 143 seeks to establish “a gambling room task force to advise and assist the Council on identifying and developing solutions to combat the ongoing proliferation of illegal game room operations in the city.”
“Despite legislative efforts to enhance penalties relating to illegal game room operations, the Council believes that because the possession of a gambling device knowingly used to advance gambling activity is only a misdemeanor level offense under state law, illegal game rooms will continue to operate, further endangering public safety,” the resolution states.
“The Council finds that establishing a task force to devise solutions to address lack of enforcement and inadequate legal means to combat illegal gambling activities is necessary and is in the best interest of the city and its residents,” the resolution adds.
HPD, the legislation notes, retrieves around 500 gambling machines in the city each year.
Resolution 143 also reminds that during the 2024 state Legislature session, Senate Bill 2197 was passed.
That legislation, which is pending action by the governor, would amend the definition of “advance gambling activity” to hold “property owners accountable by closing a loophole in the law that allows property owners to avoid prosecution for gambling offenses if they make any effort, regardless of how minimal or ineffective, to prevent illegal gambling activity on their property,” the resolution states.
Testimony on SB 2197 revealed “that on any given day, there are at least 100 active game rooms operating in the city,” with police testifying that over the past year, “the HPD had executed more than 30 search warrants on properties hosting illegal gambling, some having been repeatedly served,” the resolution states.
Under review by the Council’s Committee on Public Safety, Resolution 143 recommends that the task force have six members from the involved city departments — including two Council members.
If approved by the Council, the new task force will first study the game room problem, then it “shall submit a written report of its findings and recommendations to the Council no later than 90 days after the adoption of this resolution and prior to its dissolution,” the resolution states.
The group’s completed report will be sent to the Mayor’s Office, city managing director, chief of police, DPP director and city prosecutor, the resolution states.
At the committee meeting last week, DPP Director Dawn Takeuchi Apuna said forming the gambling room task force was “a good idea.”
“I think there’s a lot that’s already going on with HPD, and DPP and HFD, under some of the operations that HPD has conducted, and they’ve been very successful,” she said. “This might be the opportunity to lay out how we can continue some of these operations in a more official manner, in order to make sure we can have this carried out throughout the island.”
Later, Council member Calvin Say offered an amendment to the resolution that incorporated the city’s civil legal wing — corporation counsel — within the task force, “for their legal advice.”
Neither Waters nor Dos Santos-Tam spoke at the meeting on their shared resolution.
But under written testimony, Waimanalo resident Kimeona Kane said he was “in strong support of this effort.”
“Illegal gambling rings and game rooms have been present in my community for as long as I have been aware. It is a place and behavior that does not belong in our communities and often becomes a gateway to much more dangerous behaviors, which create unsafe situations for our community,” Kane, chair of the Waimanalo Neighborhood Board, said in his individual capacity. “We must take a greater stance against these game rooms and gambling rings, and I strongly believe that this will assist in doing so.”
Ultimately, the committee reported Resolution 143 out for full Council adoption.
