Dick Wolf on Expanding the LAW & ORDER Universe with L&O: HATE CRIMES

Dick Wolf, the producer behind the ONE CHICAGO franchise (FIRE, MED, and P.D.), is expanding one of his iconic properties: NBC ordered 13 episodes of LAW & ORDER: HATE CRIMES, the sixth series spun-off from the L&O mothership, in early September.

Per the network, “the latest installment of the enduring and wildly popular LAW & ORDER franchise 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, works under the NYPD’s real Special Victims Unit and often borrows SVU’s detectives to assist in their investigations.” (Wolf co-created the new series with former SVU showrunner Warren Leight.)

As for Wolf’s own interest in the topic, he acknowledged our current reality impacted the new series’ relevance. “Hate crimes are the fastest growing segment of law enforcement, unfortunately,” he told reporters in the video below. “It’s not limited to anti-Semitism and anti-LGBT: Every group has a group that would like to have them killed or burned or mutilated; it’s an unfortunate reality. We’ll never run out of stories.”

Wolf pointed out SVU had a similar trajectory—when he pitched the first LAW & ORDER spinoff, there were questions about how long that storytelling could sustain. Now, the series is entering its 20th season, and the seeds of the new series will first be planted on-air there.

Check out the video for more from Wolf…

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