The police department has been working to reduce sexual activity and other crimes along the path by getting rid of the brush that conceals it.

But while problems exist -- for instance, a man exposed himself to two girls near Bear Creek Park last month -- there are relatively few reports of crime on the path, and police don't view crime as a problem there.

Out for a bike ride on the path on a recent sunny weekend, Ashland resident Debbie Thornton, 34, said she felt safe riding with a male friend. While she's thought about safety on the bike path before, she said, "it hasn't stopped me."

Not far away, Talent resident Mike Thomas was riding with his 6-year-old nephew, Chris, and sons Michael, 11, and Anthony, 10.

"I haven't heard a word yet" about any crime problems, Thomas said. "As far as I know, it's a nice trail."

According to Medford police data, there were 35 calls for service on the bike path in the city in 1998. Citywide, the department had 50,112 calls for service last year.

Most of the calls for service on the bike path were for misdemeanors. The most frequent (five reports) was drinking in public.

Among the others were three reports of indecent exposure and one each of assault and robbery.

The bike path "is not the hotbed of crime," said Lt. Tim George of the Medford Police Department.

Lee Mills, president of the Bear Creek Greenway Foundation, said the biggest complaint he's heard personally is that people don't keep dogs on leashes.

"Some people have the perception that it isn't very safe, but I think the evidence is such it's safer than most city streets," he said.

Mills noted that more people are using the path now, and as use becomes greater, "it becomes a safer and better place."

A check with other police departments near where the path winds from Central Point to Ashland found the trail to be quiet.

Although there have long been complaints about sex in Lynn Newbry Park in Talent, police chief C.W. Smith said he thinks the problem is decreasing as police cite offenders and kick them out. But, he said, "it's still an ongoing battle."

This spring, Medford police officer Tom Ferris spearheaded efforts to clear brush in the Railroad Park area after he noticed the same men coming into the parking lot again and again to meet. He checked their license numbers and found that some of them had been convicted of sex crimes.

To discourage people from using the area as a meeting spot, Ferris talked to the parks department and had community service workers clear out a couple acres of brush. Plans are to use herbicides to keep it down. He also asked officers to park there while writing their reports to help deter criminal activity.

"It seems that it's starting to work," Ferris said, noting that traffic has subsided and complaints have decreased.

George said the Greenway path can be safer than other places because it's away from traffic. While he isn't saying there aren't dangerous people there, he said those people can be anywhere in town. He said there are areas of Medford that have higher crime rates than the Greenway.

Still, neither he nor bike officer Eastman said they would go on the path alone at night.