Posted on: Saturday, October 6, 2001

Police dispatchers arrested in gambling raid

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

Two civilian dispatchers for the Honolulu Police Department face felony gambling charges after police raided a suspected Pearl City gambling house and arrested them and three others, police said.

The five were arrested after police searched a home on Ualo Street at 12:42 a.m. Sept. 28 and found people gambling, gambling machines and cash.

"They were doing casino-type gambling," said Narcotics/Vice Maj. Darryl Perry. "We found a craps table, two video slot machines and another small gambling device. We recovered all of that and about $2,600 in cash."

Police arrested the dispatchers on suspicion of felony first- and second-degree promotion of gambling, and possession of gambling devices.

The three others were arrested on suspicion of felony gambling and possession of gambling devices. All five were released pending further investigation, police said.

Police said about eight other people were inside the townhouse at the time of the raid. They were detained and questioned, but later were released.

The two civilian dispatchers have been re-assigned to a different part of the department, said police spokeswoman Michelle Yu.

Police said there was no evidence that other HPD employees were involved or that the two dispatchers engaged in the alleged illegal activity during work time, nor did so on city property.

"This was all done on off-duty hours," Perry said. "It had nothing to do with their employment or anything connected with the police department. We want to make sure the public understands that."

Perry said narcotics/vice transmissions are encrypted and are broadcasted using secret codes, so he didn't think the dispatchers were privy to any information about police raids.

"The only people who have access to our frequency are people who have the capability of uncrypting our transmission," he said.