Agencies that reported gangs in their jurisdictions prior to 1996 were asked to identify the year in which gangs first posed a problem. Most respondents indicated that their gang problem began quite recently; 1994 was the most frequently cited year. The year of onset varied somewhat by area type. On average, gangs began to pose a problem in 1989 for large cities, 1990 for suburban counties, 1992 for small cities, and 1993 for rural counties (see table 7). Regionally, the average year of onset was 1986 in the West, 1990 in the Midwest, and 1991 in both the Northeast and South (see table 8).