Overall, the number of domestic violence cases reported statewide has been steady over the past eight years, with a high of 8,303 in 2003 and a low of 7,869 in 2004, according to statistics from the state's Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.

Still, cases of domestic violence are an everyday part of the job, local police say.

"I would venture to guess that the typical patrol officer would take an intervention role every day (in a domestic issue)," Pelham police Capt. Joseph Roark said.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month, and many local police and victim advocates are eager to challenge stereotypes and spread the word about available resources.

It's important to remember that domestic violence is not just the stereotypical image of a battered wife wearing sunglasses to hide her black eye, they say. Domestic violence issues run the gamut and can affect everyone in a family.

"Domestic Violence Awareness Month makes the public and the community aware of the role they can potentially play in reaching out and letting a victim know there is support and help," said Grace Mattern, executive director for the coalition.

"We can't expect courts and police and crisis centers to be the only ones trying to end domestic violence," she said. "It takes the whole community to understand how important it is."

Salem police responded to 261 domestic-related calls in 2005, which resulted in 65 arrests, Deputy Chief Bob Larsen said. The department has responded to 227 calls thus far in 2006, leading to 41 arrests.

In Pelham, 182 crimes were classified as domestic violence in 2003, 108 in 2004, and 103 in 2005.

However, Roark said, these numbers don't take into account reports of verbal altercations, parent-child issues or incidents in which no physical assault occurred.

"It could be answering a simple question about how to get a restraining order or where to go for shelter or legal advice, things that aren't going to be classified as a domestic violence statistic," he said.

But many cases are much more serious, with domestic violence homicides comprising nearly half of all murders in the state.

Forty-eight percent of the 280 homicides from 1990 to 2004 in New Hampshire involved domestic violence, according to the Governor's Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence. The percentage was highest in 2000, when 73 percent, or 11 of 15 homicides, were linked to domestic violence.

Roark calls domestic issues root problems, meaning the stress of these situations branches out into other problems like substance abuse and troubles at work or school.

He cited a local man who had a house, wife and children before domestic problems tore the family apart. Now, he said, that man is homeless and wanders the streets of Pelham.

"Maybe if there had been early intervention there, counseling or advice before it reached the court system, maybe we would have prevented a homeless person in our town," Roark said.

But intervening can be difficult. Victims often are unwilling to press charges and are likely to return to an abusive relationship seven times before leaving permanently, according to a 1998 article in Nursing.

"It is understandable," Londonderry police Capt. William Hart said. "After all, we're talking about people who are involved in the most important emotional relationship in their lives. So while we need to be aggressive when a person reports a domestic abuse, we also need to be, as a society, empathetic when they don't wish to proceed."

A 2002 change in state law addresses victims' reluctance to press charges. Under RSA 173-B, arrest warrants can be circumvented if police respond to a domestic assault within 12 hours of a report.

Roark and Hart said the 12-hour rule helps both law enforcement and victims by removing the abuser from the home when possible, thus removing an immediate threat.

Secrecy is another problem, said April Aucoin, a victim/witness advocate at Plaistow District Court.

"There's this taboo," she said. "I think these awareness months are pretty great things because it puts it, even just for a moment, in the public eye, so somewhere down the line, when it's safe to reach for help, (the victim) will know where to go."

Number of domestic violence victims in New Hampshire

1998 7,885

1999 7,905

2000 7,937

2001 7,937

2002 8,006

2003 8,303

2004 7,869

2005 8,001

Source: NH Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence