HONOLULU (KHON2) — Honolulu police are cracking down on illegal game rooms with a new strategy that is showing big results.
The multi-agency effort is proving successful at keeping the operations closed for good.
Police said illegal game rooms in Kalihi are being shut down and are staying that way thanks to a bold new strategy named “Operation Follow Through.”
The effort targets the game rooms and places code violations on property owners who allow them.
“When you hit a game room, the cashier changes, the machines change, the security guards change, but the property remains the same,” said Cpl. Alika Watson, HPD District 5 Crime Reduction Unit. “When I started to, like, put this kind of information together, I started realizing, ‘Oh, game rooms are in violation of so many different ordinances of code, and the responsibility of a code violation lands on the property owner.’”
HPD has partnered with agencies like the Department of Planning and Permitting, the Honolulu Fire Department and others. Officials ensure that enforcement goes beyond a police raid through cooperation.
“The City is still knocking, the City is still asking, ‘What’s going on with this property, have you resolved these codes,’” Cpl. Watson said. “It’s the ones that ignore it and start accruing the daily fines and the ones that don’t want to work with us to get rid of the game room and resolve these codes and the ones that close it down, no fines.”
The program has seen a 100% success rate since its launch, with nine closures in 2023, 16 in 2024 and 37 so far in 2025 — none have reopened, and the Kalihi community is feeling the impact.
“It was like a rash. It was everywhere,” said Kalihi Neighborhood Board chairwoman Amanda Ybanez. “And with this new operation, as comprehensive as it was and is and continues to be, it’s creating a safe haven.”
“The amount of support I got from HFD and DPP, these unarmed civilian inspectors who came out and worked with us in this collaborative effort, was unbelievable,” Cpl. Watson said.
“I wanted to thank everybody that’s involved for all their time, hard work and dedication and comprehensive work to work with one another — that’s not easy as well,” Ybanez said.
The success in Kalihi is just the start. Operation Follow Through is in the early stages of expanding island-wide with the aim of keeping game rooms out of neighborhoods for good.