The Care Lodge Domestic Violence Shelter conducted a training session Thursday to educate, train and provide information about changes in related laws to law enforcement officers.

Assistant attorney general Heather Wagner discussed Mississippi domestic violence laws and the role of law enforcement.

"I’ve found that the officers are very aware and current on their knowledge of the laws," said Wagner. "This is just sort of an explanatory assistance in helping them learn how to use the new provisions."

"We have to train the officers and make sure when you get to a scene that they don't respond off of emotion," said assistant chief Keith McCary. "In other words, if they get there and they feel sorry with one of the sides, not to side with that individual, just look at the facts of the case. Look for evidence of an assault. If an assault has occurred, make an arrest based on that probable cause."

A person convicted of domestic violence could lose their right to possess a firearm.

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Fast Facts About National Domestic Violence

• In 92 percent of all domestic violence incidents, crimes are committed by men against women.

• Forty percent of teenage girls age 14 to 17 report knowing someone their age who has been hit or beaten by a boyfriend.

• The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that 1.4 million adults are stalked annually in the United States.

• Family violence costs the nation from $5 to $10 billion annually in medical expenses, police and court costs, shelters and foster care, sick leave, absenteeism, and non-productivity.

• Husbands and boyfriends commit 13,000 acts of violence against women in the workplace every year.

• The majority of welfare recipients have experienced domestic abuse in their adult lives and a high percentage are currently abused.

• 31,260 women were murdered by an intimate from 1976-1996.

• In 1996, among all female murder victims in the U.S., 30 percent were slain by their husbands or boyfriends.

• While women are less likely than men to be victims of violent crimes overall, women are five to eight times more likely than men to be victimized by an intimate partner.

Source: http://www.ndvh.org/ndvh2.html ( National Domestic Violence Hotline Web Site)