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Capt. Ed Tucker
Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Played By: Robert John Burke
Part of the Internal Affairs Bureau who has it out for the SVU.
- Back for the Dead: He returns for an episode in Season 21, and reveals that he has had contracted lung cancer from his time working at the ruins of the Twin Towers, and had known of it while he was dating Liv. By the time of his retirement in this episode, it had metastasized to his brain, causing memory loss and a terminal prognosis. He chooses to end his own life in order to spare his new wife the tragedy of his slow succumbing to the disease.
- Character Development: Finally eases up on SVU fifteen seasons into the show, and is even casual and friendly enough with Benson to share drinks with her on occasion.
- Driven to Suicide: He kills himself so that his wife won’t have to watch him slowly die of cancer.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: As a member of the Internal Affairs Bureau, he serves an important function: investigating members of the police who have gone bad or otherwise stepped out of bounds. No one really likes it when he comes knocking, though, especially since he has it out for SVU and Stabler in particular.
- Heel–Face Turn: It's been building up for years, but as of the Season 17 Finale, it's finally become official: he leaves Internal Affairs to join the ESU's Hostage Negotiation Unit and gets a Relationship Upgrade with Benson.
- Hero Antagonist: Since the protagonists of the series are Cowboy Cops at best, and Dirty Cops at worst, his job of policing the police naturally puts him in opposition. There is no evidence that he is anything but honest and genuinely dedicated to fighting police corruption, even if he is a case of Good Is Not Nice.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In slow motion. Working recovery at ground zero gave him cancer.
- Iconic Sequel Character: A prominent Recurring Character of the show who did not show up until Season 3.
- Internal Affairs: Played up to the full extent of the office's antagonism. Cragen and Benson explain to Amaro that he is fairly out to get them.
- Jerkass: Generally, though select cases will have even him backing up SVU.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Considering how more than one episode has involved innocent people having their lives ruined by the frequently overzealous efforts of the SVU detectives once they're convinced of a suspect's guilt (Stabler certainly but even Olivia and Capt. Cragen at times), and it's a wonder why any of them still have their badges.
- Lawful Stupid: Refuses to back down from targeting SVU officers until there is no chance of success left available.
- Pet the Dog:
- Admits to Amaro in "Amaro's One-Eighty" that he would have reacted even more poorly to people shooting at his family.
- Tucker and IAB even take Olivia's side against William Lewis, when evidence is "inconclusive", and suggests she share a story that isn't necessarily the truth, that would allow them to close the case without further incident. Of course, none of the detectives at this point trust him to keep his word, but he does anyway.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Says of Cassidy (to Cassidy's girlfriend no less!), "Even for a mick he's thick." Though Tucker himself is Irish and there are no other instances of him showing any type of bigotry so it may be a case of N-Word Privileges.
- Relationship Upgrade: With Olivia in Season 17.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: He only seems to show up when the SVU detectives haven't done anything wrong. Whenever the detectives have done something for which they truly deserve to be fired or thrown in jail, he's nowhere to be seen.
- Secretly Dying: In “The Longest Night of Rain”, after reconnecting with Benson, he reveals to her he is dying of lung cancer that has metastasized to his brain. He later kills himself at the end of the episode so his new wife won’t suffer having to watch him slowly succumb to the disease.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Fifteen seasons into the show (!), Tucker is shown to express some actual sympathy when he's called to investigate Amaro and Benson for things he knows full well aren't their fault.
- His first hint of this comes in in Season 10, where (according to Benson and Stabler) he actually apologized for coming down too hard on something that turned out to be the right call, but because he's back to normal in his next few appearances, it comes off as more of a one-off Pet the Dog moment than an indication of his greater character, at least until it's in the context of the the more sustained change in later seasons.
- Windmill Crusader: Simply believes it is a matter of time before SVU cops go bad, and as such focuses on their department in particular. This extends to people who work with SVU, such as FBI Agent Dr. Huang, who the Internal Affairs Board doesn't even have jurisdiction over. He later admits to Benson (once they've overcome their differences) that the reason he joined IAB in the first place was because he has trust issues.
Capt. Steven Harris
Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Played By: Adam Baldwin
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Knows that SVU not liking him isn't a personal thing and doesn't really hold it against them when they're irritated with his changes. (Also introduces SVU to Rafael Barba, thus making him responsible for a law enforcement tour de force.)
Capt. Declan Murphy
Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Played By: Donal Logue
- Da Chief: Takes over this role late in season 15.
- Fake Irish: In universe, he uses a horrible Oirish accent while undercover.
- Iconic Sequel Character: A prominent Recurring Character of the show who did not show up until Season 15.
- Indy Ploy: When Rollins shows up as a potential Spanner in the Works to his undercover scheme in "Gambler's Fallacy," Murphy improvises a role for her.
- Reasonable Authority Figure
- Real Life Writes the Plot: Donal Logue's other television show, Gotham, got picked up. Murphy gets Put on a Bus with a sudden undercover assignment in the season 15 finale.
- Secret Test of Character: While his undercover persona is testing Rollins to make sure she is not undercover, he is in actuality testing her to see if she would abuse her badge if cornered. She passes.
- Urine Trouble: Pisses his pants as part of a ploy to gain a perp's sympathy (It Makes Sense in Context).
- What Is One Man's Life In Comparison?: Carries this philosophy in the way he works.
- He perjures himself regarding Liv's admission before the grand jury to make sure that the grand jury thinks about the fact that William Lewis - a complete psychopath - is now off the streets because of what Liv did, even if she went entirely against protocol.
- He ruins an undercover sting that SVU is holding for the sake of finding one girl that is caught up in a prostitution ring and he chews them for focusing on saving one girl instead of finding a way to take the entire group down.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: The "Irish" accent that he uses while undercover is laughable to ridiculous extremes.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: He tries to think of the big picture whenever he's undercover and whenever he's the CO at SVU - small victories don't matter when a larger one can be won.
Sgt. Michael 'Mike' Dodds
Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Played By: Andy Karl
The son of SVU's Deputy Chief, William Dodds, Mike is drafted in at the beginning of the seventeenth season to serve as Benson's second-in-command following her promotion to Lieutenant. At first appearing to be his father's proxy, he clashes with the team due to his clinical approach, but his eyes are soon opened to the realities of working at SVU. As of the season finale, his desire to do what's right has brought him lethal consequences. He is the only policing member of the SVU to be killed in the line of duty.
- By-the-Book Cop: Zig-zagged. He takes this approach on occasion (i.e. "Patrimonial Burden", when he's ready to shrug off the case for jurisdictional reasons as Benson is insisting they can't just let it go because a child has been hurt), especially in the beginning, but in "Melancholy Pursuit", after he's become emotionally involved in the case, Benson and Carisi have to remind him of the rules when he suggests a blatantly illegal move to get suspects' DNA. He cements his departure from this in "Unholiest Alliance", when he continues to work with Benson and Tucker to break the case even when they're officially suspended.
- Follow in My Footsteps: His father clearly wants and expects Mike to do this and potentially even to surpass him. Mike himself, as it turns out, doesn't love the idea, but struggles with telling his father no.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: From what little we learn of his brother Matthew, it's clear that Mike is the Responsible to his brother's Foolish. He uses this in a couple of episodes to relate to witnesses.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Saves a woman from being shot by her abusive husband in a hostage situation... only to wind up shot himself, and later dying from complications. On his last day at SVU, to boot.
- I Am Not My Father: A rare example in that his relationship with his father is pretty good, but as his character develops, it becomes clear that he doesn't have his father's aspirations — which is a bit of a problem, because Chief Dodds has, if anything, even more aspirations for Mike than for himself. On a more surface level, he also invokes this with Benson when he makes it clear that his professional loyalties lie with SVU.Dodds: (to Benson) I just want you to know, what happens at SVU stays at SVU. You have my word.
- I Let Gwen Stacy Die: A Season 22 episode indicates that Mike's death is this for Benson.
- It's Personal: In "Melancholy Pursuit", Dodds blames himself for not taking a missing persons report seriously and gets extremely emotionally invested in the ensuing murder case as a result.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Before the team warms up to him, his suggestions on how to improve productivity at SVU come across as this.
- Nepotism: Appears to be played straight at first; his father is the Deputy Chief, after all, and he blatantly and overtly greased Mike's way in.Tutuola: Dodds' oldest son, huh? Wonder how he got this job.
- Subverted as the season goes on and Mike proves to be a more than competent officer in his own right.
- Parental Favoritism: Has a drug addict brother called Matt. His father is open about his preference for Mike.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: Andy Karl was headed to the West End to star in the Groundhog Day musical, so Dodds is shot and killed by Gary Munson in the Season 17 finale.
- Retirony: Dies on his last day at SVU.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: To an extent. He uses his relationship with his father, and his father's relationships with pretty much everyone, to get around bureaucracy quicker, but doesn't use it to outright manipulate people.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Turns out to have a streak of this mentality, much to the surprise of the unit (who were expecting him to be like his rule-following father). It's most prominently on display in "Unholiest Alliance".
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Killed off just as the audience was beginning to get to know him.
Det. Brian Cassidy
Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Played By: Dean Winters
A detective formerly employed by the Special Victims Unit. He started out as a Naïve Newcomer to the squad, but he couldn't take the graphic nature of the crimes and transferred to narcotics. Flashforward to the Season 13 finale, and we find him undercover and far less naive. He is now a Recurring Character, and stuck working at IAB. Oh, and he's dating and living with Benson.
- Break the Cutie: Done purposely in-universe, in Cassidy's first season, when Cragen sends him to investigate a particularly brutal gang rape to see if he can handle SVU. He can't.
- The Bus Came Back: Returned in the Season 13 finale, "Rhodium Nights", as an undercover cop, and has now become a recurring character and Benson's boyfriend.
- Characterization Marches On: He returns for the Season 13 finale totally different—they might as well be different characters. He went from being the overly passionate rookie to a pervy perp who enables and has sex with underage sex traffickers. He's actually playing a part while undercover, although he's still far more gruff than his first appearances. There was also the implication that he might have been a dirty cop, although this turned out to be false.
- A Day in the Limelight: "Internal Affairs."
- Distinguishing Mark: A scar on the inside of his thigh, used to show who has had sex with him.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: He seems very attached to his mother, and even takes Olivia on a date to have dinner with her.
- Fake Guest Star: He's practically part of the main cast during the first half of Season 1, yet is only credited as a guest star.
- Good Is Not Nice: When he's re-introduced in season 13.
- I'm a Man; I Can't Help It: Averted when he's presented with a test while undercover, ordered to "break in" a prostitute. He takes her into a room but makes an excuse and does not actually have sex with her. Later, after the prostitute accuses him of rape, the prosecutor tries to use this trope against him in court anyway.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: When he returns in season 13, he's not the friendliest guy, but he is ultimately on the side of good.
- New Meat: Like Liv in the first season, but he ultimately can't handle SVU and leaves.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero : When Cassidy is on trial for rape, his lawyer's attempt to discredit Amaro's testimony unwittingly causes it to come to light that Amaro has a son he never knew about... which comes as a complete shock to Amaro himself, who only learns the news when he gets suddenly sued for child support. On top of that, Amaro then discovers his son is being groomed as a drug runner by his stepfather, and goes full Papa Wolf about getting the kid out of there. Cassidy, who had meant to make Amaro look bad on the witness stand but not to throw his life into total chaos, ends up helping Amaro take down the drug dealer stepfather.. In truth, this trope was only invoked, as none of the aforementioned problems were actually caused by Cassidy. Amaro just acted like they were.
- Put on a Bus:
- Sex Crimes became too much for him so Cragen recommends his transfer to Narcotics. He won't show up again until the Season 13 finale.
- Back on the bus after amicably breaking up with Benson the second time.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: Cassidy's breakup with Benson coincides with Dean Winters' other television show getting picked up.
- Token Evil Teammate: While not necessarily evil, he is stuck at IAB for the foreseeable future.
- Two First Names: Cassidy is a common female name.
Det. Danielle "Dani" Beck
Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Played By: Connie Nielsen
A member of the Warrants Squad who was briefly assigned to SVU during Olivia's undercover mission.
- Action Girl: Refuses to let Elliot protect her or keep her from operations.
- Battle Couple: She and Elliot were a couple for a while until her last episode.
- Broken Bird: She ultimately can't handle the nature of the crimes that SVU handles and after a particularly brutal case involving abusive parents and their treatment of children under their care, she leaves.
- Distaff Counterpart: She's basically a female Elliot.
- Fair Cop: A Statuesque Stunner (see below) police detective.
- Hot-Blooded: Gives Elliot a run for his money until Elliot tells her she can't keep railroading victims into giving her information.
- Plucky Girl: Until she realizes that she can't handle the cases with children.
- Romantic False Lead: She's the final woman teased heavily with Elliot before he and Kathy reconcile.
- Statuesque Stunner: A Fair Cop clocking at 5'10 1/2. Kathy Stabler even describers her (begrudgingly) as such.
Kathy: (to Olivia) So what happened to the stunner?
- Temporary Love Interest: For Elliot. How temporary? They became an item in the same season Elliot reconciles with his wife.
- Temporary Substitute: For Liv while she was off playing undercover with an environmental group.
Det. Nate Kendall
Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Played By: Wentworth Miller
- Cowboy Cop: Much more than Stabler, which the latter even finds surprising.
- Leeroy Jenkins: Being a Cowboy Cop much more than Stabler causes him to actually put SVU's cases in jeopardy.
Det. Ashok Ramsey
Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Played By: Naveen Andrews
- Badass Bookworm: As a detective in the financial crimes unit, he can analyze your bank records AND kick your ass.
- Jurisdiction Friction: Notable as a rare complete aversion of this trope, as he, Benson and Stabler don't hesitate to team up when their cases overlap.
- Scary Minority Suspect: Subverted — he's initially treated this way by the perp of the week, and later plays the part to help the detectives trick her.
- The Wise Prince: He came from a very rich family.
Deputy Chief William Dodds
Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Played By: Peter Gallagher
- Character Development: He gradually becomes less of an Obstructive Bureaucrat and gets a better relationship with the SVU.
- Da Chief: His favorite pastime seems to be ragging in the SCU.
- Iconic Sequel Character: A prominent Recurring Character of the show who did not show up until Season 16.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: When he’s not openly insulting members of the SVU, he’s actively screwing up an investigation or the latest crisis of the week, though he gets better later on.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Mike dies in the line of duty during the Season 17 finale.
- Put on a Bus: He gets transferred to the Traffic and Safety Task Force in Coventry and leaves his position as Deputy Chief.
Detective Frank Bucci
Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Played By: Nicholas Turturro
- Chekhov's Gunman: After showing up in one episode of Season 20, he comes back for a major role in Season 21 asking the SCU for help rescuing his daughters from being groomed by Steve Getz.
- Face–Heel Turn: After Steve Getz is not charged, Bucci snaps and takes Detective Rollins and Hanover hostage, demanding Getz be charged for raping his daughters.
- Papa Wolf: A dark version, since he decides to take Rollins and Hanover hostage if it means punishing Getz.
Detective Robert 'Doom' Dumas
Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Played By: Scott William Winters
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Well, not his real name, but his nickname is Doom.
- Put on a Bus to Hell: Gets suspended without pay and charged with reckless endangerment.
Sergeant Kevin Donlan
Deputy Commissioner Hank Abraham
Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Played By: Josh Pais
An opportunistic campaign manager turned deputy commissioner, who makes it his job to be as much of a dick as humanly possible to the SVU.
- Evil All Along: While a complete Jerkass, no one ever suspected he was a pedophile, much less a part of child pornography ring.
- Jerkass: To the point that the characters actually lampshade it.
- Put on a Bus to Hell: After being revealed as a pedophile, he gets sent to prison and is registered as a sex offender, killing his career.
Det. Dave Duethorn
Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Played By: Erik Palladino
- Alliterative Name: David Duethorn.
Det. Ray Lopez
Sgt. Phoebe Baker
Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Played By: Jennifer Esposito
Chief Tommy McGrath
Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Played By: Terry Serpico
A politically-minded and intensely prejudiced police chief.
- Everyone Has Standards: While he is usually a prejudiced prick, he is disgusted to his core when several women were butchered in They'd Already Disappeared. He orders Benson to catch the person responsible, at any costs. It might have something to do with him having 3 daughters of his own.
