Special Victims Unit


The Special Victims Unit 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, the very elderly, or the disabled.

United States

The New York City Police Department's Special Victims Division investigates sex crimes. It is housed in separate Borough Patrols. The Special Victims Division only investigates the following types of cases:
They also deal with children, disabled and elderly victims of non-sexual crimes who require special handling. The Special Victims Unit does not investigate any murder or child pornography cases. Murders are investigated by the precinct detective squad in which the murder was committed and/or the borough homicide squad. Child Pornography cases are investigated by various computer crime squads and task forces. Robberies are investigated by precinct detective squads and/or borough robbery squads. If a sex crime is involved, the Special Victims Squad may assist in the investigation.

In popular culture

The American television show ', the first spin-off in the Law & Order franchise, follows the cases of a fictional NYPD SVU division. Another U.S. television show ' makes references to the Sex Crimes Unit, another name for Special Victims Unit.