Special Victims Unit

The Special Victims Unit (SVU) is the name of a specialized division within some police departments. The detectives in this division typically investigate crimes involving sexual assault or victims of non-sexual crimes who require specialist handling such as the very young, or the very elderly, the handicapped.

The New York City Police Department's Special Victims Division investigates sex crimes. It is housed in separate Borough Patrols (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island). The Special Victims Division only investigates the following types of cases:

They also deal with children, handicapped and elderly victims of non-sexual crimes who require specialist handling. The Special Victims Unit does not investigate any murder, robbery or child pornography cases. Murders and robberies are investigated by precinct detective squads. If a sex crime is involved, the Special Victims Squad may assist in the investigation. Child pornography is investigated by the NYPD Vice Enforcement Sexual Exploitation of Children Unit.

The television show Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the first spin-off in the Law & Order franchise, follows the cases of a fictional NYPD SVU division.

The television show Homicide: Life on the Street makes references to the Sex Crimes Unit, another name for Special Victims Unit.

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