Homing In on Domestic Violence : Crime: O.C.arrests surge 431% in ‘90s, felony filings even more as police and prosecutors take cases more seriously.

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.

Propelling the change are increased public awareness about domestic violence, tougher laws and better training for police officers who once dismissed fights between couples as a “family matter.”

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

In the process, police and prosecutors have struggled to understand the complexities of domestic disputes, which often involve fierce family loyalties and victims unwilling to confront their attackers.

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.

Yet 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. Others remain concerned that Orange County’s felony arrest rates continue to lag behind those of many other counties.

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.

“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. “We were very far down (in the 1980’s), and I think that we’ve made some great strides, but I don’t think we’re terrific yet.”

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

At the time, domestic violence arrests were far more frequent, with police often breaking up fights but not taking the batterer into custody unless the victim sustained major injuries.

When police did make arrests, the suspect often faced misdemeanor charges that brought relatively light punishment compared to other violent crimes.

Now, 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 police.

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 attacker and sometimes retract earlier statements made to police.

Authorities, however, 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 assaulted her. Prosecutors and police in Orange County follow similar guidelines.

“We don’t (make arrests) to slap their hand or to make a point. If we arrest someone, we fully intend to prosecute them,” said Anaheim police Sgt. Bob Conklin, who supervises his department’s sexual assault and family crimes detail. Anaheim’s arrest numbers rose from 35 in 1988 to 600 last year.

“The biggest problem is the fact that the victims keep placing themselves back in the bad situation, so we keep responding. . . over and over again,” Conklin said.

In an attempt to break this “cycle of violence,” police departments are joining forces with counselors and representatives from shelters for battered women. Fullerton police enlist a specialist who arrives with police to the scene of some domestic violence calls, while Westminster police urge victims to seek counseling and alternative shelter.

From her office at Westminster police headquarters, Jerri Freeman contacts victims after police complete their interviews. For three years, she has offered emotional support as well as information about counseling and emergency shelters.

Freeman, who works for the Women’s Transitional Living Center, recalled one woman she helped leave an abusive marriage that lasted 15 years. After suffering beatings, the mother of two finally made contact with Freeman after one of her children frantically called police as her husband tried to strangle her. The husband was arrested and successfully prosecuted, Freeman said.

“It’s been very tough on her,” Freeman, a former deputy sheriff said. “‘I’ve accompanied her through her divorce hearings and getting restraining orders. She couldn’t have done that by herself.”

The same Westminster program that employs Freeman also gets prosecutors involved in domestic cases right away, creating a team with front-line investigators. In its first year, the program doubled the departments conviction rate.

“We certainly handle domestic violence a whole lot differently from how we did 10 year ago,” said Westminster police Capt. Andrew Hall. “We’re more aware of the cycle of violence, that it needs strong intervention to break that cycle, that it’s not just a family problem.” Countywide prosecutions have seen a dramatic rise in the last decade, with 74% of cases ending in some sort of conviction, according to figures from the Orange County 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 watch.

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

While 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 arrests of women, some activists argue, signals a worrying sign that police--confused as to who is most to blame--are taking victims as well as offenders into custody. In California, the percentage domestic violence arrests in which the woman is taken into custody increased from 6% a decade ago to 16.5% in 1998, the state Justice Department said.

While those figures might suggest an increase in violence against men or a greater willingness by officers to deal with such problems, some experts point out that 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.

Recent studies by Sherman suggest that domestic violence arrests act as a deterrent in areas of high employment. In economically deprived neighborhoods, arrests had the reverse effect, increasing the likelihood that batterers would do it again, according to his research.

“In high-poverty areas, a mandatory arrest policy is encouraging more violence than it prevents,” he said. “The response for people who have nothing to lose is to get angry when they get punished for being violent.”

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

Sherman’s conclusions underscore how complicated a task authorities face in trying to reduce violence within a family. Transforming how police view the crime is one thing, some experts say, but changing the perception of batterers is another.

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.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

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