Since its debut in September , the series has followed the career of Olivia Benson , as she progresses from the rank of Detective, working with a partner initially Elliot Stabler , and later Nick Amaro , to Sergeant and then to Lieutenant, replacing Donald Cragen as commanding officer of SVU, and then to Captain.
The unit also has a prosecutor assigned from the District Attorney's office, and frequently interacts with medical examiners and psychiatrists. Elliot Stabler is a senior detective who previously worked in Manhattan's 16th Precinct, also known as the Special Victims Unit, which investigates sex crimes. He is one of the original members of the squad. A former Marine and a dedicated detective, he has a 97 percent closure rate, [ 1 ] but his dedication can turn to obsession and cause him to take cases personally.
His dedication to the job also makes him the target for several IAB investigations during the course of his year career at SVU. At the start of the series, he is married with four children. He separates from his wife Kathy during seasons 7 and 8, but they reconcile after she becomes pregnant with their fifth child. Elliot is Catholic, which sometimes complicates the cases he works on, but also helps him form a close friendship with ADA Novak. His partner is Olivia Benson, with whom he generally has a good working relationship, but it is not without tension and friction, especially in seasons 7 and 8 when they are separated as partners for some time.
Captain Cragen makes both detectives speak with psychiatrist Rebecca Hendrix in order to decide whether they can continue working as partners. Hendrix tells Cragen that he should split them up only if he wants to lose his two best detectives.
Stabler abruptly retires from the Special Victims Unit after he shoots and kills a teenage girl who was recklessly firing a gun in the squad room.
