CROWN POINT | The number of Lake County protection orders increased about 57.7 percent between 2005 and 2007, a Times analysis of court records shows.

More than 4,200 protection orders have been filed in the past three and a half years, fueled in large part, experts said, by a sodden economy.

Through it all, petitioners are relying more heavily on the court system to protect them from violence and harassment, the director of a region women's shelter said.

The increase also is the result of victims receiving better education about options that are open to them from the court, region legal and shelter officials said.

Meanwhile, in Porter County, the number of protective orders and no-contact orders has dropped sharply in recent years.

In 2007, the Porter County Sheriff's Department Civil Bureau received 652 protective orders and 319 no-contact orders from the courts -- about the same as in 2006 and 2005. But, the 971 protective and no-contact orders filed in 2007 was significantly less than those in the early 2000s. There were more than 2,000 orders filed nearly every year until 2004, sheriff's records show.

Lake Circuit Court Magistrate Richard McDevitt said inking a protection order is often an "err on the side of caution" for the courts and law enforcement.

McDevitt said he can tailor protection orders to the petitioners' needs, specifying the level of contact and even where respondents are allowed to go in proximity to victims. There is no cost to victims to file protection orders.

Lake Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Tavitas said petitions for protection orders get priority in her Gary courtroom.

"It's a vehicle to stop the violence immediately," she said.

Lisa Wein, executive director of Hammond-based Haven House, Inc., said the staff at her facility, a local domestic violence shelter, has become better at explaining the function of protection orders to victims through education and counseling sessions.

Victims' fears of retaliation are eased because protection orders are a civil, not criminal, procedure, she said.

But even with the overall increase, the number of victims with protection orders hovers at only 25 percent in Haven House, Wein said.

"That is my own personal frustration because I am wondering, 'Are we missing the boat somewhere?' " Wein said. "We don't take this issue of safety lightly. If nothing else, we want to make sure these victims are safe."

Crown Point Police Chief Pete Land said protection orders aid officers who respond to domestic or harassment calls.

Without an order, he said it is very difficult to get charges filed against aggressors unless there is a specific criminal activity, such as assault.

Police, the courts and prosecutors have made it much easier for victims to start the process of getting protection orders, Land said.

"It's not a burden," he said. "Even if extra work is done, it's more than worth it. I'd much rather have a little bit of extra work and not have another victim."