What's the Deal With 311, Portland's Nonemergency Line?

Where should you report potholes, dangerous intersections, graffiti, and other problems that need fixing? There is a one-stop shop for figuring out where to get help on these issues and more: 311 — a nonemergency number that can direct you to city and county resources.

John Dutt, a longtime supervisor for the city’s 311 program, spoke with the City Cast Portland podcast about the way he and the city’s 311 operators can lend a hand:

When should you call 311?

”If you need an immediate police, fire, or medical response, you should be calling 911. 211 is a great resource for folks that are looking for social service assistance — rent, utility, emergency shelter, food. And then 311 for anything else.”

What issue is the most common that Portlanders report?

“ By far our No. 1 call type is campsites: folks contacting us for anything related to unsanctioned camping in the city. We also get a lot of calls from folks that are looking for updates or information on what's going on around the whole camping issue in the city.”

Who is most commonly calling 311 these days?

“ I would say the majority of our calls over the last month have been from folks from outside of the city of Portland, from other parts of the country. Those are usually very negative. People start off the call with a lot of vulgar words and very strong opinions. But in some ways they're not the most challenging calls, because they don't really want an answer. They just want to yell and scream for 30 seconds, and then a lot of times they just hang up.”