For all its affluence, Palo Alto is not immune to domestic violence, which cuts across all socio-economic strata, including income, education, religion and national origin.

Last year 109 cases of domestic violence were reported in Palo Alto -- down from a high of 157 in 2002. But, in a town where property crimes rule, that represents a huge chunk of violent crime -- and police time, according to Palo Alto police Sgt. Dan Ryan.

Domestic violence accounts for 56 percent of all violent crimes, which also include murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assaults, according to Dacia Tavares, Palo Alto police crime analyst.

"There isn't that much violent crime of people who don't know each other. It's mostly people you know versus random road rage," Ryan said, noting that it could be a doctor and a Stanford University professor as easily as a cook and baker.

In Palo Alto's diverse community, Ryan said some more traditional cultural groups still see women as chattel. "An old-school dynamic is still out there," he said.

Officers receive training at the police academy on how to intervene in domestic-violence cases. It continues with annual in-service updates, he said.

Over the years, police response has gotten "more rigid," he said.

"We're supposed to intervene. This is one of the few instances where we can arrest someone for a misdemeanor we haven't seen. The state says they need a time out, a cooling-off period," he said.

A key role for the police is providing resources -- including referrals to emergency shelters -- to victims of domestic abuse.

"If we have to take someone out of the home that night, we can get an emergency restraining order that night," Ryan said, recalling a case in which the husband unplugged the computer, grabbed the checkbook and threw his wife out after she tried to book an airline ticket to their home country. She had been in the United States a few months, and her rocky relationship with her husband wasn't getting any better.

Officers told the husband that California is a community-property state, and he had to hand back the checkbook and let her go.

"In the heat of the moment, people can do stupid things, make poor choices," Ryan said.

— Carol Blitzer