Check the date of this article...Sheesh, I was young & dumb back then.

https://articles.latimes.com/1990-08-...-angeles-river

From the article, "Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lt. Jim Moss said the San Gabriel River bike path is so tranquil that his deputies in the Pico Rivera substation rarely even patrol it. Santa Ana police had a similar impression of the Santa Ana riverbed path."

Now ... that's down right funny. I don't know if I should cry or laugh.

They didn't patrol it then, they don't patrol it now but you're less likely to get stopped with a knife now.

College roommate was assaulted for his bike on SGRT in 1992.

It went on back then too, only we didn't have the internet to warn each other and entertain our Charles Bronson fantasies over it.

To answer the OP's question, (assuming it's asked in earnest): group up and have your cellphone/cameras ready. If you must ride through the crime gauntlet during the crime-prone hours, just wait on the path at a safe spot for other riders (you won't have to wait long) and then stick together. If someone gets jumped, pull to a safe distance and start dialing. And if the thugs don't appear armed, maybe get some pics from a distance--just be ready to remount & pedal; because they're probably going to become more interested in getting your camera than in stealing a carbon bike.

More effective than kicking off a firearms gym-shower contest.

....Or avoid that area during crime prone hours, usually after dusk. You are safer taking an alternate route on the street.

Crime along SART is only going to get worse. I've been riding it to work daily since 1990. I have never seen this many homeless people. It seems the number is growing everyday. Some of these are not your average bums, drug addics and gang members. I've seen middle aged women pulling luggage like there going through the airport and have also seen young teens. I think these people are victims of the economy. These people are easy pray for the gangbangers.

I rode it a month ago (not a regular route for me as it is a little out of the way) It was a Saturday morning, a pretty heavy use period, so I wasn't concerned. I did notice a lot of encampments in the underpasses. Some were downright villages.

On my way home last night, I noticed 6 guys in the bushes at Mcfaddon. There were all wearing baggy pants and white teeshirts. It was right before dark. They probably were planning there next crime.

I noticed there seem to be more than the usual cyclists out around 6-7:30 pm yesterday. Did you notice that as well? Also, on Saturday afternoon about 2:30-3:30 there was a SAPD vehicle on the SART patrolling that area.

Unfortunately, they were out there onthe wrong day, at the wrong time. They need to be out there Mon-Fri right at or after dusk.
I was assaulted on the SART back in 2001- I talked my way out of a beating (In spanish), they would have taken my wallet if I had one, but not my $1200 Cannondale R600 - Blew me away!

Yikes! Depending on what part of the SART your riding on determines who patrols the area. From 22 south to about MacArthur is SAPD. Everything north of 22 is Anahiem PD then some Orange, Tustin PD, with Westminster and Costa Mesa mixed in. There are 100+ SAPD officers on street patrol covering an area of over 25 square miles and a population of over 300K and there are budget cuts likely to happen OH OH!, (Santa Ana Fire Dept was a casualty here). Perhaps patrolling the SART is best done by the Orange county sheriffs.

Looks like I'll be taking the beating cause I don't speak Spanish!

Seriously?

Dude, like would I YANK your chain?

I only know enough to save my arse...I use this in a bold John Wayne voice if I ever get in trouble, all I need to know!

Te boya matar cabrone!!!

All the Spanish I ever needed to know I learned from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: Esto es un robo.

Tustin doesn't really go that far west; Westminster doesn't go that far east. You're in Costa Mesa from Talbert Av south to Talbert Regional Park. Santa Ana from Memory Ln/GG Blvd to Talbert Av. Orange has the trail from Memory Ln/GG Blvd to the end of the "no parking" stretch on Rampart, just below the Orangewood/Rampart gate. From there to the Katella crossing, the trail is in Anaheim. But once you cross the river there at the Pond, you're in Orange again, until around the Lincoln Curve (by the RJ Noble hotplant/quarry). From there to just before Glassell is Anaheim, then you're back in Orange until just before Tustin Av. Then you're back in Anaheim until just past Yorba Linda Blvd. It's Yorba Linda until you reach the county line. Anaheim, not Anahiem.

So your point being??? I was merely pointing out that the SART passes through a variety of OC cities. Who's really patrols it? BTW, thanks for the geography and spelling lesson!