Even as the number of game rooms has decreased in the city there are some who feel more should be done.

The problem is the law — the gaming machines are legal; that’s not to say the gambling that typically goes on is legal though.

Port Arthur Det. Mike Hebert was called on by Mayor Derrick Freeman to give the Port Arthur City Council an update on the issue of gaming machines.

Three years ago the city had about 98 gaming sites known to police. Officers believe there were more, maybe located behind a wall or in a storage area. From June 7, 2017, to June 7 2018, the statistics are “pretty eye-opening,” he said.

The number went from 98 to 52 with 820 registered gaming machines in the city.

• There were 1,667 police calls for service.
• 20 aggravated robberies.
• 21 aggravated assaults.
• 7 calls for service involving guns, which would be deadly conduct or someone firing a weapon or unlawful carrying on premises.

“That’s a pretty heavy call load,” Hebert said.

But from June 29 to Nov. 8 the numbers drastically dropped:

• 888 calls for service.
• 6 aggravated assaults.
• 3 narcotics incidents.

Now there are 39 gaming sites in the City of Port Arthur. The majority were shut down due to fire code violations, one located at 6800 Ninth Ave. was closed for being too close to a high school, and one at 1701 Woodworth was closed for being too close to a church.

Hebert said that during town hall meetings he hears negative feedback in general about the gaming sites, as it affects the quality of life for the people in that particular neighborhood.

Val Tizeno, the city attorney, said there isn’t a legal way to just deny permits for people wanting to run the machines, and the process is more of an administrative one that must go through the police department and the city manager’s office.

“Because right now, in the state of Texas, it is legal to have as long as no illegal activity is going on,” Tizeno said. “The biggest problem with gaming rooms is making sure there is enforcement of illegal activity and there are changes coming up in the state legislature that may be able to help us.”

Councilman Harold Doucet said he felt the real problems with the gaming machines came about after the city passed an ordinance to license the machines.

Back then there were stores with one or two machines in convenience stores, for example. Then, after the licensing ordinance, stores would close and convert the building to gaming.

Doucet said he believes this is when the city started seeing robberies in gaming rooms, assaults and drugs and it was not in the best interest of the city to go with the licensing of the machines which, he said, created problems.

And while Hebert understands Doucet’s viewpoint, he shared some more insight into the situation.

“We believe that by having those game rooms behind closed doors they were not reporting the aggravated robberies and aggravated assaults,” Hebert said. “Now, if they don’t report them we can shut them down. We see the boost in calls because they have to make that phone call and report it.”

Another idea floated around was capping the number of game rooms at the current number but that likely won’t work either.

“When people ask me this in town halls (meetings) I equate this to pit bulls,” Hebert said. “There were times in California, Texas, Louisiana where people wanted to ban these dogs. It wasn’t the dog itself but the person who was training these dogs to be an instrument of death. So the gaming machines themselves are not illegal machines. They are just amusement machines. It’s the person that makes that machine a gambling device that makes the machine illegal. We see it especially from our seniors when we go into these businesses. We try to educate, we are constantly educating our seniors, and we tell them the games are rigged. They say the same thing: ‘I can’t afford to make it to Louisiana, I’m bored.’ ”

Doucet said he has heard from concerned citizens who are worried about the machine’s coming into their neighborhoods, but not all citizens understand the how the government works.

“However this Council has the authority to create, amend or change ordinances to address the issues we find not in the best interest of the citizens in the city and that’s what we need,” Doucet said. “We need some information so we can allow the citizen who opposed this to let us now how they feel when it comes into close proximity (to their homes).”

Councilman Cal Jones said at one time he was a proponent of the gaming devices thinking they would be good for locals by keeping them out of Louisiana and their money here in Texas. Now, he said, he sees the connection of the gaming machines and crime.

Hebert will now meet with other officials and look for options to better govern the game rooms then report back to the mayor and council.