Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a spin-off of the crime drama Law & Order, follows the detectives who work in the "Special Victims Unit" of the 16th Precinct of the New York City Police Department, a unit that focuses on crimes involving rape, sexual assault, and child molestation, as well as any crime loosely connected with any of the three, such as domestic violence, kidnapping, and child abandonment. Since its debut in September 1999, the series has followed the career of Olivia Benson, as she progresses from the rank of Detective, working with a partner (initially Elliot Stabler, and later Nick Amaro), to Lieutenant, replacing Donald Cragen as commanding officer of SVU. The unit also has a prosecutor assigned from the District Attorney's office, and frequently interacts with medical examiners and psychiatrists.
Three of the regular characters have appeared in three other NBC series: Captain Donald Cragen (Florek), who was on the first three seasons of Law & Order, Sergeant John Munch (Belzer), formerly a Baltimore detective on Homicide: Life on the Street. This character also made appearances on Law & Order, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, Arrested Development, The Beat, The X-Files, and the HBO series The Wire. Alexandra Cabot (March) was a lead character in the first and only season of Conviction where she had been promoted to Bureau Chief ADA.