Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 12, 1993                   TAG: 9305120043
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, COPS OFTEN ARE TARGETS

So says Major Don Shields, who instructs police recruits about handling domestic violence at the Roanoke Police Academy.

"People get very angry with people they love," Shields said. "They often displace that anger onto police officers."

Shields' comments came a day after a dispute in a Southeast Roanoke home led to a deadly confrontation with police. Authorities said Eric Scott Lee died from asphyxiation after being grabbed around the neck by one police officer.

While not commenting on the case specifically, Shields said police officers often are confronted with people out of control of their emotions in domestic disputes.

Police say Lee had to be subdued after he started choking an officer.

Shields said police often try to defuse family disputes by talking with the assailants in an attempt to let them vent anger.

"You've got to help that person focus that anger and talk it out," he said. "If you allow them to vent, you are well on the way to solving the problem."

Sometimes talking is not enough.

"You try to prevent physical confrontation if at all possible," Shields said.

But sometimes it's not possible because drugs or alcohol are involved, he said.

And if the situation becomes violent, "the only way to end the violence is to remove the party from the scene."

In those cases, Shields said, it's often the police officer who gets injured. Sometimes, even the person getting battered turns on police.

"It is very normal that, when we have to react to a physical threat, for the spouse - who has been beaten and beaten badly - to come to the aid of the other person," Shields said.

Still, the police and court system have found that it is better to arrest the abusive party than let them stay in the home. The courts follow up sometimes by ordering anti-violence counseling for abusers.

Often, the family's difficulties center on problems with money, substance abuse or sex, Shields said.

"You can't predict human behavior," Shields said. "Nationwide, you have police officers killed almost every day in domestic disputes."

That possibility prompts officers to be on guard and to protect themselves the best they can, Shields said. Sometimes the immediacy or location of the confrontation makes it impossible for officers to use disabling chemicals such as Mace.

Shields said he'll await the results of the department's inquiry into Lee's death and withhold judgment of the three officers' actions until he knows all the facts.