(The Center Square) – More than a year since implementing a slew of legislation aimed to address Seattle’s major public safety issues, City Attorney Ann Davison revealed statistics of the progress being made to address open drug use, prostitution and illegal street racing.
The city council has passed 24 pieces of legislation related to public safety since the start of 2024, including three major bills targeting open drug use, prostitution and illegal street racing.
The Seattle City Council passed the Stay Out of Drug Areas, or SODA, legislation, which authorized the courts to stop a defendant from entering one of the designated areas in the city if they commit a drug-related criminal offense in that zone. Orders could be issued by the court either as a condition of pretrial release, or a condition of sentence if convicted.
SODA was passed by the city council in August 2024. Since then, 115 SODA orders have been made, 41 of them from the Capitol Hill neighborhood, according to new data from the City Attorney’s Office. The Chinatown-International District follows with 34, and the downtown area with 26.
Seattle City Councilmember Maritza Rivera noted that there were no SODA referrals in the University District – which she represents – but she emphasizes that drug-related arrests are still being made in the area.
As for North Seattle’s prominent prostitution issue, the city council passed a loitering law that targets buyers of commercial sex, including charging people who promote loitering for purposes of prostitution in Stay Out of Area of Prostitution, or SOAP, zones with gross misdemeanor offenses.
According to Davison, the SOAP law has led to 32 orders to date, the majority of which are for sex buyers.
“It is actually helping officers to engage with this criminal enterprise in the north end and find those that are looking to come here from all over the country to do this criminal activity,” Davison said during the Public Safety Committee meeting on Tuesday.
However, Seattle City Attorney’s Office staff stated that challenges remain regarding the police department’s ability to enforce this specific law.
Lastly, in response to Seattle growing a reputation for lackluster enforcement against illegal street racing, the city council approved civil infractions against committers of these crimes.
Since the city approved the implementation of civil infractions against illegal street racing in July 2024, 19 infractions have been issued so far through Sept. 9, 2025. Out of those infractions, 16 were first offenses – a $500 fine, one was a second infraction – a $800 fine, and two were three or subsequent offenses, which total $1,500 per infraction.
Davison points out that the drop off in first offenses from subsequent ones shows that the city’s crackdown on illegal street racing has successfully deterred frequent street racing.
In order to continue addressing lingering public safety concerns, the Seattle City Council will begin its 2026 budget discussions after Mayor Bruce Harrell announces his full budget proposal later this month.
