The first spin-off of Law & Order, expanding it into the Law & Order franchise, it stars Mariska Hargitay as Detective (ultimately promoted to Captain) Olivia Benson, now the commanding officer of the Special Victims Unit after originally having been Stabler's partner in a fictionalized version of the New York City Police Department, and Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler (until Meloni left the series in 2011 after 12 seasons).

Based out of the NYPD New York City Police Department's 16th precinct in Manhattan, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit delves into the dark side of the New York underworld as the detectives of a new elite squad, the Special Victims Unit (SVU for short), investigate and prosecute various sexually oriented crimes, including rape, child sexual abuse, human trafficking and domestic violence.

The unit also works with the Manhattan District Attorney's office as they prosecute cases and seek justice for SVU's victims and survivors with precision and a passion to win and bring closure to the intense investigations.

Munch is a transfer from Baltimore's homicide unit, who brings his acerbic wit, conspiracy theories, and street-honed investigative skills; Cassidy is young and eager to learn from his fellow detectives.

[citation needed] The unit did not receive a full-time assistant district attorney until season two, when Alexandra Cabot (Stephanie March) was assigned to work with the detectives.

After Cabot's departure, the ADA void was filled by Sonya Paxton (Christine Lahti) and Jo Marlowe (Sharon Stone) until the conclusion of season 11.

Detectives Nick Amaro (Danny Pino) and Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish) joined the team filling the void left by Stabler.

Season 16 was another period of change with the introduction of Carisi at the beginning and the departure of Amaro at the end, with the latter relocating to California to be near his moved children after being wounded in the line of duty and learning that previous instances of misconduct have cost him any chance for advancement in the department.

Also introduced in season 16 was Deputy Chief William Dodds (Peter Gallagher), who served as commanding officer for the Special Victims Units in all five boroughs of New York.

Dodds also departed the series at the start of the season due to some issues in the case regarding a mogul raping countless women, allowing new deputy chief Christian Garland (Demore Barnes) to take his place.

In season 25, McGrath was replaced as chief after crossing multiple lines in his interference with his daughter's rape case, and IAB Captain Renee Curry (Aime Donna Kelly) joined SVU in hopes of making changes.

Shortly afterwards, FBI agent Shannah Sykes (Jordana Spiro) was put on loan to SVU after helping them rescue abducted girl Maddie Flynn.

The idea for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit originated with the 1986 "preppie murder" case of Robert Chambers, who strangled and killed a woman he dated, Jennifer Levin, during what he claimed was consensual "rough sex" in Manhattan's Central Park.

The crime inspired Dick Wolf to write the story for the season one episode of Law & Order titled "Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die".

[20] In March 2015, it was announced that Warren Leight signed a three-year deal with Sony Pictures Television, that will allow him to work on SVU one more season, its seventeenth.

[21] It was announced on March 10, 2016, that original Law & Order veteran producer Rick Eid would take Leight's place as showrunner starting in season 18.

Since the role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit was only initially meant to be a few episodes, Winters was forced to leave when it was time to film Oz again.

Ice-T originally agreed to do only four episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, but he quickly gained affection for the ensemble nature of the cast.

[33] Initially, the show focused exclusively on the police work of the detectives in the Special Victims Unit of the 16th precinct, with members of the District Attorney's office occasionally appearing as guest roles crossing over from the original Law & Order.

[35][36] Tamara Tunie was cast as medical examiner Melinda Warner in season two after working with Wolf previously on New York Undercover, Feds, and Law & Order.

BD Wong was asked to film four episodes as Dr. George Huang, a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) forensic psychiatrist and criminal profiler on loan to the Special Victims Unit.

[41] However, Patton dropped out after one episode to film Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and was replaced by Melissa Sagemiller in the recurring role of ADA Gillian Hardwicke.

[48] Changes that accompanied this included Tamara Tunie's being bumped from the main cast to a guest-starring role and recurring actor Joel de la Fuente's not appearing for the first time since 2002.

[52] It was later also announced that Brooke Shields was enlisted to assume a major recurring role (Sheila Porter, maternal grandmother of Noah Porter-Benson, Olivia's adopted son) starting in season 19 of the long-running dramatic series.

[67] By season twelve, both Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni had become among the highest-paid lead actors on a drama, with each earning nearly $400,000 per episode, a salary that TV Guide said was exceeded only by House's Hugh Laurie.

As a result, a space was chosen at NBC's Central Archives building in nearby North Bergen, New Jersey, 53,000 square feet (4,900 m2) of stage area that had been left unused for some time.

[82] Beginning with Season 20, SVU would air on Thursday nights at 10 p.m., after NBC decided to devote their entire Wednesday primetime lineup to the Chicago Med, PD, and Fire trilogy.

The series was nominated in the category Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for Jane Alexander and Tracy Pollan in 2000, Martha Plimpton in 2002, Barbara Barrie in 2003, Mare Winningham and Marlee Matlin in 2004, Amanda Plummer and Angela Lansbury in 2005, Marcia Gay Harden and Leslie Caron in 2007, Cynthia Nixon in 2008, Ellen Burstyn, Brenda Blethyn, and Carol Burnett in 2009, and Ann-Margret in 2010.

Club wrote it that "while SVU isn't yet television's best cop show, it’s absolutely its most improved, and that uptick in quality is all the more admirable given that, as the only L&O game in town, it could have just as easily embraced predictability rather than injecting a risky new energy".

[175] On March 31, 2020, it was announced that NBC had ordered an untitled spin-off series to launch in the 2020–21 television season, with Christopher Meloni reprising his role as Elliot Stabler.