SLAP HOUSEA n a h e i m V i c e : S e r g e a n t C o o p e r

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WHAT IS A SLAP HOUSE?

A “slaphouse” is an illegal gambling business operating inside a home or business. The nickname comes from the sound of players slapping the controls of some of the games which can be heard outside the business.

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THE FISH GAME

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WHY DO WE CARE ABOUT GAMBLING?

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WHAT CRIMES COME WITH A SLAP HOUSE?

For Anaheim:

-Homicide

-Shootings

-Gang Crimes

-Firearm possession and manufacturing

-Narcotic Sales

-Prostitution

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WHY ANAHEIM, WHY NOW?-Anaheim has always had small versions of these establishments

-In early 2020, Santa Ana and Westminster saw a trend of Gangs (Asian and Hispanic) start being associated with Slap Houses.

-They became a criminals heaven. Dope / Money / Guns / Women

-A good slap house can make over 100K a month

-Covid closed legitimate businesses and these places became profitable with no competition

-People who had little to no money began getting unemployment and stimulus checks

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HOW DO WE FIND THEM?

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EARLY TIPS COMES FROM THE PUBLIC-Citizen-”This business seems closed but I see a lot of foot traffic to the rear.”-Property Owner-”My tenants won’t let me check the property.”-Neighboring businesses-”Our parking lot gets full and they are all walking towards this business blacked out to the front.”

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WHAT DO WE DO?

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OUR PLANVice / Gangs conduct surveillance and stop individuals leaving the locationThrough these stops and arrests we gather enough evidence to obtain a search warrantOnce we have a search warrant we utilize our SWAT team to serve the warrantTypically we detain 60-85 people inside the locations. These people are all arrested for gambling. Employees identified through our investigation are arrested for felonies.Many people detained have warrants and are in possession of narcotics, and weaponsWe also take all of the machines as evidence

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WHAT WE HAVE AFTER 6 LOCATIONS-217 arrests

-9 firearms

-approximately $75,000 which goes to the City’s general fund when unclaimed

This doesn’t include the investigative stops and arrests

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DANGERSEvery location has had people hiding inside after SWAT makes announcements

-attic

-a cardboard box

-behind doors

This is even after chemical agents are used

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WHO’S WORKING ON THISAnaheim Police Department◦ Vice◦ Gangs◦ Community Policing◦ SWAT

Code Enforcement

Building Department

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FUTURE-We have already seen how our aggressive approach has made some locations close down and move before we addressed them.

-I’m pleased to say our community has been apart of every investigation with tips and reporting suspicious activity. This will need to continue for us to have success.

-We are also working with other agencies to hold the people organizing these locations accountable. Code Enforcement is working on holding property owners who knowingly allow this activity accountable.CPT- Works with owners to reclaim their property.