Published Aug. 21, 2026at6:00am
Got graffiti, trash, or public drug use to report? In San Francisco, 311 is supposed to be the place to turn when a problem does not warrant an emergency response. But in the case of public drug use, 311 can be the place where those complaints go to die.
That’s because those 311 complaints often get canceled, with complainants told to call police instead.
A blog post (opens in new tab) from SolveSF, an AI-enabled 311 reporting app, found that 425 drug complaints filed with 311 since April 22 have been canceled. That’s despite officials telling people (opens in new tab) to report those complaints to 311, not the cops.
The problem is a gap between how residents are told to use 311 and how the system works. Drug-use complaints made by phone can be transferred directly to the police nonemergency line. But complaints submitted through an app — the way most 311 reports are filed — can be canceled.