Written by by Daniel Beekman at seattletimes.com
The Seattle City Council looks poised to establish six “stay out” zones for drug crimes and one for prostitution, authorizing judges to bar people from the zones once they’ve been charged with or convicted of certain offenses and authorizing police to make arrests if they don’t comply.
The council’s Public Safety Committee voted 5-0 Tuesday to advance two bills — one aimed at drug activity in downtown, the Chinatown International District, Belltown, Pioneer Square, Capitol Hill and the University District. The other would create a zone along Aurora Avenue North targeting what the bill calls commercial sexual exploitation. That bill would also reestablish and revise a “prostitution loitering” crime that a previous Seattle council repealed in 2020.
They’ve vowed to change what they’ve described as an overly permissive approach by previous city leaders.
“Seattle is no longer a safe space to do your dirt,” Councilmember Rob Saka, from West Seattle, said Tuesday, arguing the bills will help police go after drug dealers and disrupt illicit markets concentrated in particular areas.
Final votes by the entire nine-person council are scheduled for Sept. 17, and changes could still be made. Opponents asked the committee to shelve the bills Tuesday, arguing banishment zones have been tried before, won’t reduce crime, will lead to discriminatory policing and will further marginalize vulnerable people without addressing the root causes of drug addiction, gun violence and sexual exploitation through new investments in social services.