Police officials and authorities on domestic abuse said there has been a decline in domestic abuse cases reported in the Ames area, even though Iowa Supreme Court statistics show a significant increase in requests for protective orders in the last decade.

The Iowa Supreme Court changed the Iowa restraining order law in 1990 to make it easier for women to get help in domestic abuse cases, which is why the number of petitions for restraining orders has increased.

In 1990, there were 188 petitions for restraining orders in Iowa, and last year, there were 5,638 — almost 30 times more than before the law was changed.

Carolyn Weston Johnson, business and finance director for ACCESS (Assault Care Center Extending Shelter and Support) said the statewide increase in petitions for restraining orders not only reflects violence in the home, but also shows more women are using the system to shield themselves rather than trying to handle problems alone.

But some authorities question how effective restraining orders are in protecting victims and preventing violence.

“For no-contact orders, I think sometimes there can be a false sense of security,” Johnson said. “Even though it says they can’t have contact, it’s still just a piece of paper. And if they want to hurt their victim, they will, and a piece of paper is not going to stop them.”

Johnson said the number of petitions doesn’t necessarily reflect an increase in occurrences of violence, but an increase in the number of women reporting it, along with a general understanding that domestic abuse is a crime and not simply a “family problem.”

“I think in the late ’80s and early ’90s, domestic violence was just coming out of the closet,” Johnson said. “And people’s attitudes were, ‘This is no one’s business, they need to work it out between themselves.'”

Tammy Hyer, Ames Police records supervisor, also said the attitude toward domestic abuse has changed, which may be a factor in why more petitions for restraining orders have been filed.

“There used to be quite a stigma attached to it, but now it’s just crime,” she said.

Although state-level findings point to a significant increase in women requesting restraining orders, local statistics actually show a decrease in the past few years.

Ames Police records showed reports of domestic abuse have dropped nearly 50 percent since 1995. In 1995, 80 reports of domestic violence were filed compared to 43 cases reported in 1998.

Department of Public Safety records of domestic simple assault did not show significant change. In 1995, DPS received 10 domestic assaults compared to 9 cases reported in 1998.

ACCESS records showed client hearings for criminal, civil and prose cases dropped by about 17 percent from 1997 to 1998, and arrests for domestic abuse declined by 18 percent.

“That doesn’t mean it’s not happening as much,” Johnson said. “A lot of times the batterers threaten [their victims], and other times they don’t want everyone to find out about it. Also, sometimes they just don’t want to face the perpetrator in court again or they are scared of whole procedure.”

Johnson said unless officers are willing to arrest perpetrators for no-contact order violations that don’t necessarily result in another crime, such as theft, burglary or domestic abuse, victims can continue to feel violated.

“Officers don’t always arrest them if there isn’t an additional crime involved in breaking the no-contact rule,” Johnson said. “There are really good police officers out there, but I also think that some of these [cases] slip through the cracks.”