New 'Law & Order' series will focus on hate crimes
Law & Order is planning a new series focussing on hate crimes.
NBC has ordered 13 episodes of Law & Order: Hate Crimes, to add to the long-running franchise, according to Entertainment Weekly.
It will reportedly be based on the New York Police Department’s real-life Hate Crimes Task Force, and will take on crimes rooted in hateful acts and discrimination.
The show will be presided over by Dick Wolf, the creator producer behind all the Law & Order series, and Warren Leight, showrunner of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
NBC’s co-president of scripted programming Lisa Katz said: “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.
“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.”
Added Wolf: “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.”
This will be the seventh Law & Order spin-off, following the original series, which first aired in 1990, and was then followed by Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: Trial By Jury, Law & Order: LA, and Law & Order: True Crime.
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