Arcades smell a rat. That’s why the Colorado Skill Games & Entertainment Association filed an open-records request against the cops. The trade group wants to see what law enforcement has been saying in its work communications about recent raids.

“Over the past several months, seven different skill games and arcade entertainment centers have been raided, with millions of dollars of equipment and property seized,” the association said in a press statement. “It is the association’s position that these raids are a gross overreach by law enforcement, and law enforcement does not have the statutory authority to conduct these actions.”

Fox31 TV station in Denver did exclusive reporting on the raids last summer, saying they are part of a crackdown by the state Attorney General’s Office over “quasi-casinos,” which allow illegal gambling. Investigators weren’t commenting, however.

The association listed the raided locations.

The announcement said law enforcement agencies have seized equipment they deem to be slot machines or “simulated gaming devices.”

The association argues that state law exempts devices that are games of skill and not illegal games of chance. The devices being seized need “skill, speed, strength or endurance.”

“We’ve heard of no consumer complaint on our numerous member locations, and are convinced that law enforcement is overreaching their authority at the urging of the big casinos,” Chris Howes, executive director of the Colorado Skill Games & Entertainment Association, said in a statement.

“These are mom-and-pop small business owners whose equipment is being seized and livelihood is being put at risk because big casinos have called their friends to act without the state law backing them up.”

Hawes said court cases show “there is no firm legal ground for interrupting and devastating these small business.”