You're damned if you do, you're damned if you ... do.

The embattled captain of the 78th Precinct on Tuesday night said that his officers often don't always respond to 311 calls about defaced license plates or illegally parked cars because 911 calls are a much higher priority — but then defended the arrest of attorney Adam White after a driver used 911 to report him for eschewing 311 and fixing a defaced plate on Fourth Avenue himself.

Capt. Frantz Souffrant of the Sixth Avenue station said during Thursday's precinct community council meeting that the driver's use of 911 — and 78th Precinct officers' prompt response — was a valid use of what he had earlier said were strained NYPD resources.