Vern White will pack up his office on Elgin St. next month and walk up the street to the upper chamber, likely barefoot in his winter boots.

For a man who didn’t like wearing socks, he never had cold feet about expressing his views on law enforcement in the nation’s capital.

He came to Ottawa in 2007 known as a cop’s cop and proved himself a media darling. The straight-talking Cape Bretoner refused to be muzzled and for awhile would take any and all calls from reporters looking for his views on everything from shooting a runaway moose to safe injection sites.

White’s appointment to succeed Vince Bevan came under a small cloud of controversy with the police board overlooking who was seen to be the obvious choice, Sue O’Sullivan, a deputy chief at the time who has since become the federal ombudsman for victims of crime.

White, who was previously police chief in Durham Region and an assistant RCMP commissioner, took up the cause of youth drug addiction in the region and vowed to mend fences with the police union.

He succeeded on both fronts, helping fundraise for new treatment facilities and build restorative justice programs, while rubbing elbows with cops at HQ.

Inside 474 Elgin St. he was largely well-liked by the the rank-and-file — the massive Ottawa Senators fan played ball hockey with his subordinates in the gym — but he drew some criticism for his heavy focus on the frontline cops and leaving the detective branches on the backburner.

There were only a few ripples in labour relations over the four years with the police department.

A controversial shakeup of the tenure system in 2008, which saw long-time detectives go back to patrol duties and beat cops transfer to investigative units, had some complaining about losing valuable experience on major cases.

There were others who relished the opportunity to patrol the street again, or take a stab at detective work.

He put street crime squarely in his sites and he preferred to be in the trenches fighting the ground war rather than moving chess pieces from the ivory tower. On major case files, he let his top staff manage the investigations.

Residents saw the chief everywhere early in his contract.

And they received surprise calls, too.

On the way home each night from the cop shop, he would phone people who emailed him that day to respond in person to their questions and criticisms.

There were significant investigations under White’s watch, including citywide drug busts, but there is one major case he hasn’t closed.

White always said “one of the most difficult whodunits” he saw in his career was the 2007 killings of retired judge Alban Garon, his wife Raymonde and their friend Marie-Claire Beniskos at the trio’s chic condo complex near Hurdman transit station.

His greatest challenge with Ottawa police came near the end of 2010 when the Stacy Bonds cellblock abuse scandal made national news. More court cases featuring questionable police treatment of prisoners followed. The public pressure was immense and although he offered his resignation to quell the controversy, the bosses at City Hall wanted him to guide the force back on track. He was saluted for quickly putting a magnifying glass over cellblock policies and a Leger Marketing poll for the Sun had 80% of people standing behind him during the turmoil.

From Day 1 he was questioned about his aspirations about becoming RCMP commissioner. The prime minister’s office eyed him for the post last year before appointing Bob Paulson commissioner.

The feds knew White wasn’t afraid to be front and centre on an issue, and so the story goes, he told them no one would be able to zip him if he became the nation’s top cop.

What you see is what you get with White.

Now he’s on his way to Parliament Hill to trade barbs with politicians.

He’ll knock their socks off.

jon.willing@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @JonathanWilling