

This season's third episode focused on an investigation involving a rape kit, which took Detective Olivia Benson (Hargitay) from New York City to Los Angeles to meet Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Detective Rex Winters ( Skeet Ulrich). Production resumed in the Chelsea Piers studio.

Outdoor filming was halted on January 26, 2011, due to a blizzard. After the fourth episode of the season, the original New Jersey set was no longer used. Faced with losing the state's 20 percent tax incentive, the show moved to New York City into the studio space at Chelsea Piers that was occupied by the original Law & Order series. After the season finale, Christopher Meloni, BD Wong, and Tamara Tunie left the principal cast.įor the first eleven years of Law & Order: SVU, the set had been located in New Jersey, at NBC's Central Archives building in North Bergen. Īt the end of the season, Neal Baer resigned his position as showrunner. After the winter hiatus, SVU returned with another two-hour showing on January 5, 2011, before the broadcast time switched to the 10pm/9c time slot the following week. Episodes initially aired on Wednesdays between 9pm/8c and 10pm/9c Eastern except for the season premiere which aired from 9pm/8c to 11pm/10c. This was the first season that the show did not air alongside the original Law & Order. The twelfth season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premiered in the United States on NBC on September 22, 2010, and concluded on May 18, 2011.
