EVERETT — The city’s nine current SODAs — stay out of drug areas — will remain unchanged until 2021.
The geographic zones are off-limits to people convicted of drug offenses. City Council members recently voted to keep the zones intact as-is. The council is required to update its SODA designations every two years.
People with SODA restrictions can be arrested simply for being in one of the prohibited zones. Last year the Police Department made 257 such arrests for SODA violations.
SODA zones are sections of a city which police have identified high volumes of drug trafficking.
In 2017, the department expanded Everett’s SODA list to include a stretch along SE Everett Mall Way and a neighborhood in north Everett that encompasses Clark Park and Everett High School.
Police statistics indicate drug activity in both areas remain heavy.
A triangle-shaped area formed from 112th to Airport Way along Evergreen Way has one of the highest concentrations of drug offenses — various addresses logged more than 100 drug-related offenses combined on the department’s map.
The SODA bounded by “Everett Mall Way, Evergreen Way to state Route 526, two blocks north and south of Everett Mall Way” includes one location where there were more than 41 drug-related offenses in 2018, and three other spots where there were between 20 and 40 drug arrests.
“There are several locations within this area where crime analysis identified high concentrations of drug arrests and complaints,” Police Sgt. Jeff Hendrickson wrote in a declaration to the council. “The high concentrations are associated with large retail areas.”
The SODA that includes Clark Park and Everett High, defined as “contained within Everett Avenue, to 23rd Street, to Broadway, to Hoyt (Avenue)” has one location with 41 or more drug-related offenses, and two others with between 20 and 40.
There is “a large amount of drug activity” in the area around Clark Park, Hendrickson declared. He said he has been involved in several drug arrests in the park, and has seen people using heroin within sight of the high school.
The busiest SODA for 2018 drug trafficking, however, is a stretch of Evergreen Way, including streets within two blocks east and west of it, extending from the 4700 block to the southern city limits.
It features three locations with 41 or more drug arrests, and five more with between 20 and 40. The stretch from 11400 Evergreen Way to Airport Road has “one of the highest concentrations of drug activity within the city,” Hendrickson said.
Overall, last year Everett police made 1,134 arrests for drug violations, drug equipment violations, and SODA order violations.
Of those, 871 were charged as misdemeanors, 214 were Class C felonies or less, 46 were Class B felonies or less, and three were gross misdemeanors.
Everett police also responded to 3,184 service calls related to substance abuse.
