HONOLULU (KHON2) — New data from the Honolulu Police Department shows that the number of operational illegal game rooms has gone down between 2024 and 2025, with a projected 70 game rooms for this year compared to the 160 game rooms last year.
This comes as a result of the enforcement strategy conducted by HPD, the Honolulu Prosecutor’s Office, Department of Planning and Permitting, Homeland Security Investigations and local lawmakers.
City targets illegal game rooms with new laws
Authorities say their new approach creates a stronger and stricter enforcement.
“HPD’s Narcotics/Vice Division no longer has to act alone in this effort. With this collaboration, we’ve adopted a more aggressive and coordinated approach to enforcement,” the division’s Acting Major Jerome Pacarro said. “This unified effort enables us not only to dismantle illegal game room operations, but also to hold property owners accountable for knowingly allowing such activity on their premises.”…