First, council members voted to pass a bill aimed at illegal drug activity in downtown Seattle, the Chinatown International District, Belltown, Pioneer Square, Capitol Hill and the University District. The bills reflect a more aggressive posture toward law enforcement by City Attorney Ann Davison and a new council majority that won power in elections last year. Proponents say they hope the anti-crime zones will disrupt illicit street markets that can wreak havoc and spawn violence, while critics warn the exclusion bills will further marginalize vulnerable people without improving public safety in any sustainable way.
Dozens of public commenters weighed in for and against the zones with fiery remarks before the council took action Tuesday, and Councilmember Tammy Morales, from South Seattle, slammed the bills as she cast dissenting votes. They said the city has tolerated too much chaos on its streets in recent years. The bills authorize Seattle Municipal Court judges to issue exclusion orders and authorize police to arrest people for violating them.
Davison proposed the SODA bill and provided information on drug hotspots. Public defenders and many organizations that provide social services opposed the bills, while advocates like the Downtown Seattle Association supported them.
Councilmember Dan Strauss from Ballard added some data-reporting requirements Tuesday. That means the orders can be issued for drug possession and public drug use and also in certain cases for crimes like assault, theft, harassment, property destruction and trespassing. The bill says judges can issue the orders as a condition of pretrial release or postconviction.
People with SODA orders will be able to take transit through the exclusion zones without deboarding. State law allows for SODA zones, and some cities already have them. Jon Scholes, president of the Downtown Seattle Association, said he thinks SODA orders can interrupt drug dealing and related violence partly by excluding drug buyers from blocks with entrenched problems. He said county officials should follow suit with felonies. The old law was mostly enforced against women and girls selling sex, rather than buyers, and the council members who nixed it in said it had disproportionately harmed people of color.
