Former King County Sergeant driven out by lawlessness, moves to Arkansas

Viktor White, former King County Sheriff’s Sergeant, has left the department and the Seattle area due to what he says is the general lawlessness and the lack of support from local elected officials.

“The most difficult part of leaving was the people that I worked with,” White told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson Show. “There’s some amazing, amazing people within the King County Sheriff’s Office. Those men and women work so hard. And any sheriff’s office in the land, in the United States of America, we have less money for training and equipment, and resources, and all that.”

“The reason that just drove us over the edge is that we saw the lawlessness just continue to spread wildly,” White said. “And I refuse to raise my children in that kind of environment. … I will not curtail to any politician that says it’s OK to commit these crimes, and the revolving doors of people going to jail and being let right back out. It’s unacceptable and the way it’s going so rapidly, I refuse to have my family in that environment.”

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White, a first-generation immigrant from Budapest, Hungary, White grew up in the Seattle area. A few Seattle police officers became his mentors, he says, and took him on ride-alongs when he was a teenager. At their advice, he joined the United States Army, then became an officer after he got out of the army.

White worked with the King County Sheriff’s Office for 16 years, and was a police officer in Los Angeles before that.

“We all want to live the American dream — freedom in our homes, freedom to walk the sidewalks without being assaulted or robbed or whatever,” White said. “And when crimes do happen to people, they must be held accountable. But what I’m seeing is there is no accountability, and I’m sorry, but the leaders, the leaders that are elected on all spectrums, they need to tow the line to protect the citizens that they swore to defend.”

“And I’m not just talking about law enforcement here. I’m talking about all the elected officials, mayors, council members, and all,” he added. “They all swore an oath to protect the people they serve. And you know what? All that has gone out the window, and it’s very sad, but it is true.”

White moved his family to Arkansas, where he’s still working in law enforcement.

“We’ve been down here for almost two weeks now, and I tell you what, they would not stand for what is going on up there [in Seattle],” he said. “They would not stand for lawlessness here. People have extreme values, the old school values that we grew up on, the values that matter. And that’s ‘yes, sir. No, sir.’ And opening the door for the next person and just … love thy neighbor. That’s what it is down here.”

“The stress level has immensely dissipated from leaving the carnage of Seattle,” he added.

Listen to the full interview below:

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from noon – 3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.