http://www.katu.com/news/9373291.html
Cyclist wants more police presence on Springwater Trail after attack | KATU - Portland, Oregon | News
Check this out. I saw a motorcycle Cop on the west end of the Springwater the other day. Maybe we need more of them further East.

the only purpose for the traffic division motorcycle cops at the west end of the trail is to bust cyclists for running stop signs, it's got nothing to do with improving safety on the trail itself. this is the first gang-related incident I've heard of but I know that the trail is heavily used by the homeless, who have hobo camps all along the undeveloped Willamette River portions of the trail north of Oaks Bottom.

There goes the neighborhood

homeless folk gotta camp someplace, the trail runs along both a current and a former RR ROW, traditional hobo territory. I don't think there are any documented cases of the homeless actually harrassing or attacking trail users, my main objection is that they tend to trash all the nice spots along the river bank.

yeah, fact of the matter is a lot of the homeless are cyclists.
They have beater bikes and use them to collect returnables and stuff.

They are not just homeless but druggies too. There is a migration of them between Sellwood and Lents and I am not sure about out to Gresham since I don't generally go that direction. But with the 205 being chopped up I guess they need to go west to get away from the hard hats
V

The ones between Sellwood and the beginning of the Esplanade tend to be older and primarily harmless (but messy) alcoholics. I've seen the drug user homeless further east, and they're an entirely different breed. They do scare me. Still, I don't ride any part of the Esplanade/Springwater at night unless I'm with a decent sized group of people. Most women I know feel the same way. I went on the last Dropout ride and they did part of the Springwater on the Willamette. That was nice. There should be more night rides on the MUP. It's a safe way of being there after dark.

yeah, fact of the matter is a lot of the homeless are cyclists.
They have beater bikes and use them to collect returnables and stuff.

Some of those beater bikes are pretty nice...

I'm sure some of those beater bikes were hot goods...

there is certainly gang activity as well once you get into outer SE Portland, I've ridden out there to Brentwood-Darlington (aka Felony Flats) and the surrounding neighborhoods and it can get pretty sketchy at times east of 52nd.

In general I think the homeless don't want to cause trouble. As long as they don't cause problems the police won't run them off. However, gangs and young wannabes will cause problems as that what they're out there to do. Unfortunately, most youths hanging out at night who don't want trouble look the same as those looking to cause trouble.
I live in Washington county and frequently use the multiuse path between Tigard and Beaverton at all hours of the day. So far, I've rarely seen anyone who looks like trouble. But this weekend the path between Denny and Hall was vandalized with a streetlight knocked down to block the path, an well as a lot of lumber (probably the remains of someones fence) scattered in such a way as to block the path. I'm sure those individuals would have been scary to encounter especially as that portion of the path has no easy escape paths, a lot like the Springwater trail. So the problem is everywhere, it's just worse in some places.