Imagine you are not here legally. Would you call the police to report a possible illegal game room? Even if one is here legally or is a citizen, why would anyone want to get involved?
The following is suggested from an article in KPRC 2.
Heck, even if one reports drug dealing, getting HPD to do anything about it is difficult. That is a much more serious concern than illegal gambling. What harm are they causing? If it’s so bad, why do people go to casinos? I don’t gamble, except for buying lotto tickets occasionally. Illegal game rooms are not a top police priority.
HOUSTON – Houston police are searching for a person of interest after a security guard was shot and killed during a robbery inside what investigators described as an illegal game room in Sharpstown.
Investigators said the call came in Feb. 9 just before 9:30 p.m. Police said people who were inside the business fled after the shooting, but one witness called 911.
Houston police have released a photo of the person of interest and are asking anyone who recognizes him to contact investigators.
The business is located inside a strip center on the 7000 block of Bissonnet and appears to blend in with other storefronts. Houston Police Department Lt. JP Horelica told KPRC 2 it was “obvious it was made to look like something else.”
KPRC 2 asked Houston City Council District J Councilman Edward Pollard about illegal game rooms operating in the city. Pollard said the issue has been a problem for years and said people involved in criminal activity “try to outsmart HPD and the community at large.”
Pollard urged residents to report suspicious activity, including businesses that appear closed but still have a large number of cars in the parking lot after hours. He also said people should take note of retail-style storefronts that use buzzers to get in, or locations with additional security that would not normally be expected.
Houston police said if you suspect an illegal game room is operating in your neighborhood, you should report it.
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Game Rooms, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
From the Houston Chronicle. Here is the article, it is a gift from me to you. First time I have used it. I encourage people to subscribe to the Chronicle.
The game rooms that blend anonymously into their surroundings are a vexing problem for police, neighbors and legislators who can’t settle on how to regulate them.
“These are very much a nuisance, both to law enforcement and the community around them,” Constable Alan Rosen said. “Traditionally, a lot of criminal activity has gone on around them, everything up to murder.”
Last year, Harris County Precinct 1 Constable deputies executed 23 illegal game room warrants and made 31 arrests. They also seized 85 machines, 288 computer motherboards and more than $720,500, according to Angelique Myers, spokesperson for the office. Deputies were raiding the businesses about once per week, Rosen said.
Game rooms in Texas often operate in a gray area of the law. In Harris County, they are defined as any business with six or more gaming machines. While many around the region are ostensibly legal, in reality many skirt state laws by offering cash prizes. Because of the illegal activity, they’ve become a favorite target for robbers and criminals looking for easy cash. It’s a near constant problem for investigators charged with regulating them, said numerous law enforcement officials who spoke to the Houston Chronicle.
Law enforcement’s interaction with game rooms typically follows a familiar pattern. Police respond to an address, but only after someone calls to report a violent crime, such as a robbery or murder. To avoid scrutiny, game room operators generally don’t call police for nuisance crimes.
Customers told law enforcement in December they hadn’t seen or heard anything when an argument over money led to the shooting of a security guard at a game room in southwest Houston, according to police.
In September, Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to an illegal game room in east Houston after someone attempting to rob the place stabbed a 19-year-old security guard twice and fatally shot another man.
Investigating game rooms is rife with its own set of complications, Lozica said. Because the businesses aren’t inherently illegal, building a case against them requires undercover investigations and hours of police work.
“Really, you’re looking at time and money,” he said. “With Galveston County, you’ve got so many more pressing crimes, violent crimes. It puts things like these on the backburner, because it does take a lot of time and money to investigate these places.”
Game rooms are big business, both for cities and for operators
For all of the trouble the businesses give law enforcement, they also generate plenty of money both for those who run them and for some of the cities where they operate.