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British Columbia's top cops admit organized crime likely won't be driven out of the marijuana business anytime soon.

In a wide-ranging year-end interview with the RCMP's Deputy Commissioner Brenda Butterworth-Carr and Assistant Commissioners Eric Stubbs and Kevin Hackett, the trio touched on issues from legalized cannabis to street crime, homelessness and harassment.

Stubbs says the main thrust for police since the legalization of recreational marijuana has been on education. He says it's early days to come to any conclusion on its effect on the illegal drug trade.

"Obviously, organized crime still has a footprint in the cannabis world ... but, certainly, as the industry becomes more mature, the more legal sales we see, that will impact organized crime.

"But the notion that it will be eliminated, certainly, we don't see that happening in the near future."

He said the force has been focusing on training members how to handle "circumstances on the road," such as drug-impaired driving, and it has an aggressive campaign to train members in drug impairment recognition.

On homelessness, addiction and mental health, and how they coincide with crime, Stubbs said the complex issues are being felt across the country.

He held out a recent temporary modular housing project on 135th Street in Surrey as being a textbook example of multiple agencies working together to place vulnerable people in a safer environment. 

"We are achieving a goal to get a roof over a person's head, but other issues remain – mental health, addiction, unemployment. It's just one issue that we've solved, but it keeps that person safer."

He says that allows other agencies to address the remaining issues, and in the meantime, crime has gone down.

As far as Surrey deciding to create its own municipal police force, Butterworth-Carr said the RCMP's official position is neutrality.

She said she's "very confident" in the service the RCMP delivers, and "until a viable plan is presented, we continue business as status quo."

She added that gang violence in that city is not just a Surrey issue – "A lot of attention is paid to it, but it's a provincial piece, a Lower Mainland piece. Not only Surrey, it impacts right across the province."

Hackett added the RCMP has "never been better positioned" to collaborate with municipal forces, and said that approach has yielded success in fentanyl and firearms seizures and "putting the most violent, dangerous gangsters in jail."

Butterworth-Carr said the RCMP's efforts to weed out harassment on the force are having a positive effect.

"When we provide an environment where people feel more comfortable bringing matters forward, they're going to do that," she said, recognizing an upward trend in internal complaints. She said continuous efforts need to be made, but great strides have been taken as the force focuses on employee wellness, inclusivity and diversity.

On the recruiting front, she said there will always be a demand, especially as a generation of officers gets set to retire. However, not all recruits "are going to be front-line cops or carrying a gun."

"What do we really need our members to be trained in?" she said, noting growing areas of non-traditional policing in cyber crime and others.

"It's taking advantage of opportunities to offer a different sort of service," she said.