Dick Wolf’s Law & Order: Hate Crimes series greenlit at NBC
NBC has given a 13-episode order to Law & Order: Hate Crimes, the seventh installment in Dick Wolf’s Law & Order franchise, Deadline has confirmed.
Law & Order: Hate Crimes is based on New York’s actual Hate Crimes Task Force, the second oldest bias-based task force in the U.S. The unit, which pledges to uphold a zero-tolerance policy against discrimination of any kind, words under the NYPD’s real Special Victims Unit and often borrows SVU’s detectives to assist in their investigations.
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The new series is set in New York City, where crimes motivated by discrimination are vigorously investigated by an elite, specially trained team of investigators. Going behind the headlines and viral videos, these diverse, dedicated and passionate detectives will stop at nothing to bring these criminals to justice.
Wolf commented: “As with all of my crime shows, I want to depict what’s really going on in our cities and shine a light on the wide-ranging victims and show that justice can prevail. Twenty years ago when SVU began, very few people felt comfortable coming forward and reporting these crimes, but when you bring the stories into people’s living rooms – with characters as empathetic as Olivia Benson – a real dialogue can begin. That’s what I hope we can do with this new show in a world where hate crimes have reached an egregious level.”
The new series was co-created by Wolf and former Law & Order: SVU showrunner Warren Leight. Law & Order: Hate Crimes will be introduced in a backdoor pilot spinoff on SVU with the new unit expected to appear in the latter part of the upcoming season.
“I’m extremely impressed by the actual men and women investigating these cases in a city as complicated and diverse as New York. The work they are doing puts them on the front lines in a battle for the soul of our city and nation. I’m thrilled about the chance to reunite with Dick and NBC to portray the reality of this crisis,” said Leight.
“As Law & Order: SVU enters its remarkable 20th season, it is exciting to get back into business with Dick Wolf on a new Law & Order incarnation that feels extremely timely,” added Lisa Katz, Co-President of Scripted Programming at NBC Entertainment. “Considering that last year there was a double-digit rise in hate crimes in our 10 largest cities — the highest total in over a decade — it seemed like this topic is begging to be explored.”
Law & Order: Hate Crimes is a Wolf Entertainment production in association with Universal Television. Dick Wolf and Warren Leight are creators and executive producers. Peter Jankowski and Arthur Forney will also serve as executive producers.