Analysis of TV Show Law and Order: Special Victims Unit

Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and an American police procedural crime show that is set in New York City. Many of the episodes are loosely based on real crimes found in the news that have created a lot of attention. The Special Victims Unit is portrayed as a new elite squad of NYPD detectives who investigate sexually related crimes and crimes involving women and children. This police drama was originally set to follow the detectives, Elliot Stabler and his partner Olivia Benson as they are portrayed as seasoned detectives that have seen it all and have had difficult past which motivate them to solve crime.
Law and Order SVU is a TV show that focuses on the interrelationships of the institutions of policing and prosecution as equally necessary elements of the criminal justice as a whole. Law and Order debunks the belief that the justice system is a stream lined system on ether the policing or prosecution end. They encounter many road blocks when they’re on their way to seeking justice. When the show first came out, it focused exclusively on police work of the detectives.
Law and Order SVU emphasize the cops’ ability to perform their jobs correctly and without too much incompetence. Most cops in the department are depicted as able to perform the smaller tasks of police work without too much difficulty, such as laying out the crime scene tape, gathering forensic evidence, etc. Most of the problems that arise from this show that are a result of not incompetency but from accidents and misinformation, such as when the witness or victim gives false information. As with some crime solving TV shows there isn’t any regular character on the show that depicts a not so competent cop or informant on Law and Order except for maybe the occ...

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..., such as rape and domestic abuse as well as cases involving children and the elderly. The cops and prosecutors on this show are purposefully shown to be very competent as to emphasize their ability to do their job correctly. The characters on this show are efficient and are shown to be the best ‘guy’ for the job.

References
Byers, Michele, and Val Marie Johnson. The CSI Effect: Television, Crime, and Governance. Lanham: Lexington, 2009. Print.

David, Greg (February 19, 2007). "Law & Order: SVU's Mariska Hargitay speaks!", MSN. Retrieved 2009-05-12

Dwyer, Kevin, and Juré Fiorillo. True Stories of Law & Order : Special Victims Unit: The Real Crimes behind the Best Episodes of the Hit Tv Show. Waterville, Me.: Thorndike, 2008. Print.

Silver, Jim. The Crime Junkie's Guide to Criminal Law: From Law and Order to Laci Peterson. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2008. Print.