During this period, the Guardian Angels, a controversial and highly visible citizen action group withdrew and reintroduced either normal or intensive patrols in selected sections of the New York subway system. Onsite interviews also were conducted with 2,700 nighttime subway riders to ascertain their extent of prior victimization, fear of crime, and attitudes toward the Guardian Angels. Results indicate that, contrary to public expectations, crime on the city's subway was remarkably low. Fear of crime among riders was found to be relatively high, but not exceptional when compared to fear of crime previously found in above-ground settings. Moreover, comparisons of areas having no, normal, or intensive patrols indicated that the Guardian Angels had no apparent effect on crime rates or on overall fear of crime, nor did patrols increase the willingness of passengers to help one another. 21 tables, 6 figures, 97 references, and index. (Publisher abstract modified)