This police guide reports on police responses to spouse abuse and wife beating calls based on research collected from visits to 17 police departments, interviews with police managers, a survey of 130 police officers, and interviews with social service professionals. The first chapter explains the purposes of the report, i.e., to: (1) provide guidance to police executives in the development of policies and procedures; (2) improve police responses to spouse abuse calls; and (3) offer suggestions about training programs. Chapter 2 reviews the nature and extent of spouse abuse and wife beating problems. Chapter 3 discusses current police practices and reports results of a survey of 130 police officers. Chapter 4 concerns the formulation of policy guidelines and includes a discussion of policymaking methods and relevant issues for appropriate police responses to abuse problems. Chapter 5 suggests operational procedures for responding to abuse calls and provides step-by-step procedures to help officers understand, defuse, and prevent recurrences of violent conflicts. Chapter 6 reviews the elements of an effective training program for police to learn how to deal with spouse abuse. (Author/NRB)