AUBURN — No city is immune from the scourge of heroin, Police Chief Phillip Crowell told a group of Neighborhood Watch organizations Thursday night.

So far this year, the city’s emergency crews have responded to 10 overdose calls, Crowell said to a crowd of roughly 30 residents at Sherwood Heights Elementary School for a first-time collective meeting of the city’s six Neighborhood Watch groups.

Crowell briefed the groups about a range of criminal activities affecting neighborhoods, from speeding vehicles to drug trafficking.

Last year, 23 people overdosed within city limits; two of them died, he said.

“So, you can see, we’re not even three months in and we’re already getting close to 50 percent of the overdoses we had last year,” he said.

A map of the city displayed at each of the tables in the school cafeteria featured red, yellow and orange dots depicting overdoses and related deaths dating back to 2013. That year, only three overdoses were reported in the city, two of them resulting in death. In 2014, the city saw eight overdoses; three of those killed the users.

Although police officers on patrol don’t carry the opioid antidote naloxone, or Narcan, every fire and rescue truck does, Crowell said in response to a question.

Rescue crews are so quick to respond to calls that they typically arrive at medical 911 calls within seconds of police officers and sometimes before them, Crowell said.

Having a paramedic administer the drug is preferable to an officer with limited medical training because, sometimes, medical complications can result from a naloxone injection, he said. Police officers help paramedics subdue a patient who becomes combative after being treated with naloxone.

“It’s a joint effort,” he said.

His department’s force is down seven officers, Crowell said, stressing the importance of the organized groups of local residents who monitor their neighborhoods and alert his officers to criminal or suspicious activity. His reduced force patrols 67 square miles, one of the largest geographical municipal areas in the country.

He expects three cadets to come onto the force full-time in August, he said, which should ease the shortage.

Recruitment efforts of new officers are hampered, in part, by some applicants’ drug use, he said.

Two of his department’s officers are assigned to drug forces at the state and federal levels, he said.

“What we’re not getting at is that low-level dealer,” he said. “Those are the ones that are occurring everyday.” A new effort is being made to target those crimes, he said.

“It’s that activity that is driving those other crimes in our community,” he said, such as home and vehicle burglaries and thefts. Those crimes are feeding the addictions of opioid users, he said.

Larry Pelletier, a member of the New Auburn Neighborhood Watch group, said he walks through his local parks most days and has found needles and other evidence of drug use.

Another drug concern of law enforcement is the prevalence of marijuana use and the legalization of medical marijuana on the state level, despite continued federal prohibition, Crowell said.

“It’s an issue that is going to be challenging,” he said. The drug has become so pervasive that some canine units are no longer imprinting dogs for marijuana detection, Crowell said. If a dog hits on the scent of marijuana, that can impede a search for more virulent drugs or other criminal contraband, he said.

His department expects to urge passage of local ordinances that would target grow operations that pose “life safety concerns” such as grow lights creating a fire hazard and other health issues within city limits.

Neighborhood groups reported on their activities, including Sharron Raczynski, a member of the Lake Auburn group. She said speeding is a major concern in her area. Drinking drivers seeking to elude police is evidenced by empties tossed onto the properties of residents, she said.

Other groups highlighted concerns over burned out street lights and local traffic infractions.

Bonni Blodgett, secretary for the New Auburn neighborhood group, advised a woman, whose Sunderland Drive Neighborhood Watch group was recently created, to pair up with neighbors and walk the streets of her area.

“It’s good to have eyes on what’s going on,” Blodgett said.