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.