The danger of family disputes is highlighted in police training manuals which cite high figures reported by the FBI for law enforcement officers killed. Researchers report family violence (Straus et al., 1980), violent police-citizen encounters (Lester, 1980), and police response to spouse assaults (Parnas, 1967, and Buchanan and Perry, 1986) to be the most dangerous police activity. Other researchers dispute this contention, finding that robberies and burglaries are more dangerous (Margarita, 1980, Konstantin, 1984, and Garner and Clemmer, 1986). The research assesses the dangerousness of domestic disturbances for the Baltimore County Police Department. Domestic disturbances are found to be dangerous calls for police in terms of assaults and injuries, and 1,550 assaults on police during a three-year period are analyzed. 5 tables, 26 references. (Author abstract modified)