City Council passes new penalties for loitering in drug and prostitution zones in Seattle

After weeks of debate and controversy, the Seattle City Council voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to pass new penalties designed to put an end to drug and prostitution crimes in the city's hotspots.

Council members said persistent crime in these zones compelled them to act. Critics accused them of taking an approach that was not supported by data and could enable profiling and racial imbalances in law enforcement.

The council voted 8-1 to create new penalties for loitering in certain drug or prostitution zones. When people are arrested for crimes such as assault or theft “where the court finds a nexus between the offense and illegal drug activity,” municipal court judges can bar them from entering six different Stay Out of Drug Area (SODA) zones in places such as the Chinatown International District, downtown and other areas with “high levels of significant drug activity,” according to the legislation.

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Council member Bob Kettle co-sponsored the SODA legislation with City Attorney Ann Davison, which Kettle called an effort to look at the “entire community” impacted by outdoor drug markets.

“Neighbours were attacked, constantly threatened and could not lead a community life,” he said.

Council member Cathy Moore sponsored the second bill, which would create a “Stay Away from Prostitution Areas” zone on Aurora Avenue above North 85th Street. Moore said her bill is intended to target pimps and buyers of commercial sex, “where women and other persons are trafficked and prostituted for the very, very lucrative profit of the pimps and the sole personal gratification of the buyers.”

According to the Seattle District Attorney's Office, there are only a handful of cases in the city each year in which pimps are charged with the existing crime of “promoting prostitution,” which requires victims' cooperation in investigations.

Moore said her solution is to create a new serious offense that does not pose the same risks to victims of trafficking because it is based on the “observable behavior of exploiters” – watching, monitoring, yelling at, directing and transporting people into the Aurora Corridor.

RELATED: Seattle City Council considers law on loitering prostitutes after heated debate

Vendors or victims of commercial sexual exploitation cannot be barred or targeted under the SOAP ordinances, but they could be arrested for loitering under the new law. Moore promised more help in the upcoming budget to fund an emergency detention center where victims of commercial sexual exploitation on Aurora could be transferred after their arrest.

“We will be shifting funds in our budget to make this possible. For me, this is just the beginning of the work, but not the end,” Moore said.

City Councilwoman Tammy Morales voted to repeal Seattle's previous loitering laws four years ago, and she was the only one to vote no on the current bills.

“While these bills may give the impression that the council is doing something about public safety, to claim that these bills address any of these issues is dangerous and the epitome of hypocrisy,” she said.

Morales said the city should instead prioritize providing services and housing to people in the affected areas.

“There is strong evidence that disrupting the drug market actually leads to more violence and overdose deaths,” she said.

SODA orders and other forms of “banishment” have also been criticized for denying recipients access to social services and other legitimate goals, such as work or family. The new measure requires judges to consider these needs when imposing the orders, but defendants must provide evidence to support those decisions.

Mayor Bruce Harrell has indicated that he will sign the two bills and that they will take effect 30 days later.

“The Mayor supports additional tools to ensure safety in neighborhoods. He believes that these tools, when used appropriately, can complement efforts to reduce unrest in the streets, identify breakdowns in the health care system, and enable those in need to access services and treatment to get well,” a spokesperson for Harrell said in a statement.

Seattle police also expressed support for the new loitering bills. In a statement to KUOW, they said the laws offer “greater opportunities to break the cycle of significant public disorder and, particularly in the case of SOAP, to interrupt the human trafficking-related violence that fuels prostitution in Aurora and further victimizes already vulnerable individuals and communities.”

The ministry added: “While staff and resource shortages continue to burden the ministry, the SPD welcomes all instruments, be they legislative or technological in nature, that enable the ministry to work more efficiently and effectively.”