Police cracking down on illegal gambling

Police in Decatur are cracking down on illegal gambling

New at ten... police in decatur are putting the spotlight on a crime that's growing - and may be happening around you - without you even knowing.

That crime is illegal gambling - and police say they are cracking down hard on it.

You're taking a look at photos from decatur police.

It's of a local business where more than 5 illegal slot machines were hidden away from view of many customers.

Complaints from residents led to the arrest of this man, francisco ramirez.

He was booked on tuesday and charged with promoting gambling in the store on danville road.

Waay31's steven dilsizian joins us live.

He spoke with decatur police about the growing illegal gambling problem.

Decatur police tell me they've busted multiple shops this month, and made a total of three arrests.

In fact, police raided the west moulton mini mart last week after slot machines were found inside.

Law enforcement isn't stopping any time soon.

Ake sot: emme long - decatur police department "our vice narcotics team has received numerous community complaints about gambling in the area, we take that very seriously, we have zero tolerance for that" emme long with decatur police tells me police are seeing a lot of illegal gambling inside stores.

She says they've had more cases two months into the new year than they did in all of 2019!

Slot machines, sometimes hidden in back rooms of buildings, are a big target.

Take sot: emme long - decatur police department "our charge right now is promoting gambling, that we've issued the three times prior, and that's a $300 bond for a misdemeanor, and that is for anyone who is creating and enabling the process for others to gamble" police say they charge store owners or employees usually in these cases with the misdemeanor.

One man says he never knew what was happening inside some local stores.

Take sot: jason winslow - lives in decatur "very surprising just to walk out and find this happening in your neighborhood" police can't go into detail to what exactly they look for when it comes to illegal gambling, but they say the help from community members makes a big difference.

Take sot: emme long - decatur police department "i think the community sees our community policing efforts, and are very open to talk to us about this, and so because of their open communication, we've been able to deter this now" decatur police tell me the slot machines are seized and ultimately destroyed once the cases are cleared.

Live in decatur -- sd -- waay31 news.