Domestic Abuse Arrests in O.C. Skyrocket in Last Decade : Violence: Figures soar 431%, compared to 78% statewide and 38% in L.A. County. Increased public awareness, tougher laws and better police training are credited.

Domestic violence arrests in Orange County leaped 431% over the last decade--the biggest jump among California’s major counties--and now account for more than half of all felony assault cases handled by police, according to a review of state records.

The surge marks a dramatic turnaround for law enforcement agencies once accused of ignoring the problem. It also has led to an even larger increase in prosecutions. In 1989, the Orange County district attorney’s office filed four felony domestic assault charges. Last year, it filed 2,316.

Statewide, counties reported a 78% increase in those arrests over the decade, reaching 56,892 last year. Los Angeles County reported a 38% increase and Ventura County 81%.

Driving the change are increased public awareness about domestic violence, tougher laws and better training of police officers, who once dismissed fights between couples as purely family concerns.

Today, police across California make more arrests for domestic assaults than for homicides, rapes, robberies and kidnappings combined, a Times analysis of California Justice Department statistics found.

Experts said the numbers do not indicate whether incidents have increased, although the analysis shows that 911 calls reporting domestic assaults fell about 20% statewide over the last five years.

Despite the rise in arrests, those who work with domestic abuse victims said authorities still have improvements to make. Some argue that police departments need to pair their get-tough approach with more counseling for both abusers and victims.

Of the state’s 15 most populous counties, Orange County ranked last in domestic violence arrest rates a decade ago when compared to total 911 calls about domestic abuse, according to crime figures. Now the county ranks ninth--behind neighboring Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Ventura County ranked last.

“I do believe that the victims are being treated better, that the officers are treating domestic violence more seriously,” said Shirley Gellatly of Human Options, an Orange County-based organization that offers shelter and counseling to battered women.

The surge in arrests has its roots in state laws passed in the mid-1980s requiring that police treat all forms of domestic violence as criminal and that suspected abusers be arrested.

At the time, domestic violence arrests were far less frequent, with police often breaking up fights but not taking the abuser into custody unless the victim suffered major injuries. When police did make arrests, the suspect often faced misdemeanor charges that brought light punishment compared to other violent crimes.

The law states that anyone who inflicts injury on a partner during a domestic dispute can be charged with a felony, which carries a sentence of up to four years in prison.

The legislation also mandated regular training for officers on how to deal with domestic violence calls, which present some of the most difficult and dangerous situations for law enforcement.

By the 1990s, police and prosecutors were treating domestic abuse more like other violent crimes, even when cases were difficult to prove. Caught in a tangle of dependency, guilt and love, victims are often unwilling to testify against their attackers and sometimes retract statements made to police.

Prosecutors also began pressing ahead with cases even when victims and witnesses refused to cooperate.

Los Angeles police and prosecutors are currently pursuing misdemeanor charges against football legend Jim Brown, who is on trial for allegedly making terrorist threats against his wife, despite her testimony that she lied to officers when she told them he had beaten her.

In Orange County, prosecutions have seen a dramatic rise in the last decade, with 74% of domestic abuse cases ending in conviction, according to figures from the district attorney’s office.

Many of the cases show how devastating domestic violence can be, particularly to children. Superior Court Judge Pamela Iles remembered one 16-year-old who testified in front of her about four years ago.

“During the repeated battering of his mother by his father, he would just keep turning up the television to drown out her screams,” Iles said. “I just don’t think kids should have to live like that.”

Filing more cases allows victims the chance to put an end to the abuse, Iles said, hopefully limiting the emotional damage such violence inflicts on children who witness it.

“We are giving voice to the victims by allowing them to file cases,” she said. “Years ago they were silenced into shame.”

Although many activists view arrest numbers as a barometer for how well police are handling cases, others contend that aggressive police action can sometimes backfire.

An increase in the number of women arrested in such cases, some activists argue, is a worrying sign that police--confused as to who is most to blame in a dispute--are taking victims as well as offenders into custody. In California, the percentage of women arrested for domestic violence increased from 6% a decade ago to 16.5% in 1998, the state Justice Department said.

Although those figures might suggest an increase in violence against men or a greater willingness by officers to deal with such problems, some experts say victimization surveys indicate that such violence has remained stable.

“Mandatory arrest policies aren’t working, because here are many women getting arrested who wouldn’t have been before,” said Lawrence Sherman, a criminologist at the University of Pennsylvania.

California does not keep data on recidivism rates for domestic violence offenders.

One expert questioned whether more arrests help solve the problem.

“I do think it’s better that law enforcement takes it seriously, but as far as actually reducing domestic violence [is concerned], throwing the perpetrator in jail is probably not always the best system overall,” said Carolyn Sachs, an assistant professor at UCLA’s emergency medical center who has written about domestic violence. “The best thing would be to prevent it to begin with.”

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Increasing Arrests

Felony domestic violence arrest in Orange County increased by 431% between 1988 and 1998. Other Southland counties also showed significant increases. Percentage change:

Los Angeles: 38.2%

Orange: 430.9%

Riverside: 159.4%

San Bernardino: 226.2%

San Diego: 233.8%

Source: California Department of Justice