On his first full day as Denver’s new police chief Robert White donned a dark blue suit and began a litany of meetings to learn everything he can about the new department.

In a meeting this afternoon with City Council, White was asked how he would find efficiencies in the department, how he would deal with the Occupy Denver protesters and whether he would require officers to live in the city.

“I thought they wanted me to come in to just say hello,” White said jokingly after the meeting of the council’s health, safety, education & services committee.

“Communication is the key,” White told the council members, saying he would like to meet regularly with the committee and would try to appear at any community events the council members would organize.

White, 59, was sworn in late Monday morning as the city’s first African American police chief and one of only two who have come from outside the department. He had been chief of the Louisville, Ky., department.

He said over the next 30 to 60 days, he plans to begin implementing changes — making sure more officers are on patrol rather than doing work that civilians could do.

He said that he is curious why only half of the 1,400 police officers on the force are working patrol and the others are in special units.

“That makes my antenna go up,” he said. “Give me some time to look at the resources. There will be changes.”

Councilman Albus Brooks said he would like to see more officers walking the streets rather than patrolling from their cars. White agreed.

“I can’t speak to how important it is for the officers to connect to their community,” he said. “That doesn’t occur when they are riding around in the car.”

Brooks also asked whether he would require officers to live in Denver. White said he would encourage it, but he is also finding out how expensive it is to live in the city. He wondered if there could be any incentives offered to keep officers in Denver.

White said he had hoped the Occupy Denver protests would have been over by the time he was sworn in, but he said he is going to be closely involved with the actions going forward.

“At the next march, I need to be there,” he said. “I need to have an understanding what our relationship is with them. How do we strategically address the different moves they have?”

He said he wants to look at the city’s policies for allowing officers to work off duty at bars and events.

Councilman Paul Lopez asked about White’s thoughts on the federal Secure Communities program designed to identify illegal immigrants. Lopez said the program appears to be unfairly targeting and profiling Latinos.

“My perspective on that is officers should go about doing their job,” White said. “Someone who violates the law, the officer has a right to take action. Whatever action they take for citizen X should be the same as an undocumented person. I want to make sure police officers are treating everyone, regardless of their station in life, the same way. “

White said although he is a “uniform man,” he will be wearing a suit until he is certified by the Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training Board. He said he hopes to take the written P.O.S.T. Certification Exam in January.

Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com