Amanda Rollins is a detective assigned to the Special Victims Unit, in September 2011, after moving to New York City from Atlanta, Georgia.
Amanda is possibly in a long distance relationship with Lieutenant Declan Murphy, with whom she has a daughter.
Background
While in Atlanta, Rollins hunted a serial rapist who ended up in New York City.
It was also revealed that she had a gambling problem and was $20,000 in debt with a bookie. Captain Cragen chose to get her help instead of firing her. She has since been attending Gamblers Anonymous meetings. Rollins' previously mentioned troubled sister, Kim, comes to New York, causing problems for Amanda while she is trying to work a case. (SVU: "Friending Emily")
Later Kim returns to New York beaten by her ex-boyfriend Jeff and claiming to be pregnant. (SVU: "Deadly Ambition") (Later on she gives two versions of the supposed pregnancy; on one hand, Amanda finds out she had lied about the pregnancy, Kim confessed that her period had been late causing her to think she was pregnant and on the other, she tells Nick Amaro that she had lost the baby). When Amanda hears screams from inside her apartment, she finds Kim's ex-boyfriend beating Kim, and Amanda shoots and kills the man as he pulls a gun on her.
After her initial interview with IAB Lt. Tucker, Kim changes her story, including revealing a life insurance policy on the ex-boyfriend with Amanda's name on it (later on is revealed that Kim forged Amanda’s signature because she thought that it would look suspicious if she was the sole beneficiary).
Kim’s change of story from rape to accident is the result of finding out that neither she nor Amanda would get a penny from the insurance company if they found out that Jeff had died committing a crime. The supposed evidence of Amanda shooting Jeff in cold blood leads to Lt. Tucker arresting Amanda in Captain Cragen's office. The charges against Amanda are later dropped when Amaro tapes Kim confessing to setting Amanda up. Before Kim can be arrested, she steals everything from Amanda's apartment and disappears.
Rollins is shot by a sniper in front of the precinct. (SVU: "Poisoned Motive") Her shooting leads back to the daughter of Detective Tutuola's narcotics partner, who is out for revenge on the NYPD after her father was injured on the job by protecting Tutuola from a bullet.
Rollins is caught in the middle of a case in which her friend from G.A. claims to have been raped. (SVU: "Rapist Anonymous") When the alleged rapist is killed, her friend is put on trial and Rollins' personal life is revealed on the stand. This proves too much for her to handle and she is seen gambling, smoking and drinking in the final scene.
Detective Rollins gambles at an illegal gambling station. (SVU: "Gambler's Fallacy") She is forced into the office of the owner after the waitress tells him she is a cop. After this, she is forced to work for them so she won't get exposed to her partners and her job. Amanda is told to steal a gun from evidence and later is caught by Detective Amaro from video tape surveillance. Later in the episode, it is revealed that Declan Murphy is in the NYPD, arresting everybody in the room. In the end of the episode, she would have been transferred if the unit wasn't short staffed, as quoted by Sergeant Olivia Benson.
Eventually the truth of why Amanda left Atlanta is discovered. (SVU: "Forgiving Rollins") Amanda agreed to be a "good girl" and sleep with Deputy Chief Patton in order to get her sister off the hook per Patton's request. She was only able to admit to the rape when one of her fellow former Detectives from Atlanta, Detective Reese Taymor, was raped by Patton. It's possible that Amanda also left due to rumors that Amanda came up with the idea to sleep with him to advance her career.
It was revealed Amanda was pregnant by September 2015. She never told the rest of the squad, though the fact was realized by serial killer Greg Yates, who taunted her about it. (SVU: "Devil's Dissections")
It is revealed that Declan Murphy is the father of her baby. (SVU: "Community Policing")
Right before Amanda gives birth, she suffers a placental abruption, almost resulting in her death. However, she survives and delivers a healthy baby girl, Jesse.
Officer-involved shootings
- Liev Bodrov (SVU: "Russian Brides")
- Jeff Parker (SVU: "Deadly Ambition")
Appearances
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (5 seasons, 112 episodes):
- Season 13: "Scorched Earth" • "Personal Fouls" • "Blood Brothers" • "Double Strands" • "Missing Pieces" • "True Believers" • "Russian Brides" • "Educated Guess" • "Lost Traveler" • "Spiraling Down" • "Theatre Tricks" • "Official Story" • "Father's Shadow" • "Home Invasions" • "Hunting Ground" • "Child's Welfare" • "Justice Denied" • "Valentine's Day" • "Street Revenge" • "Father Dearest" • "Learning Curve" • "Strange Beauty" • "Rhodium Nights"
- Season 14: "Lost Reputation" • "Above Suspicion" • "Twenty-Five Acts" • "Acceptable Loss" • "Manhattan Vigil" • "Friending Emily" • "Vanity's Bonfire" • "Lessons Learned" • "Dreams Deferred" • "Presumed Guilty" • "Beautiful Frame" • "Criminal Hatred" • "Monster's Legacy" • "Secrets Exhumed" • "Deadly Ambition" • "Funny Valentine" • "Undercover Blue" • "Legitimate Rape" • "Born Psychopath" • "Girl Dishonored" • "Traumatic Wound" • "Poisoned Motive" • "Brief Interlude" • "Her Negotiation"
- Season 15: "Surrender Benson" • "Imprisoned Lives" • "American Tragedy" • "Internal Affairs" • "Wonderland Story" • "October Surprise" • "Dissonant Voices" • "Military Justice" • "Rapist Anonymous" • "Psycho/Therapist" • "Amaro's One-Eighty" • "Jersey Breakdown" • "Betrayal's Climax" • "Wednesday's Child" • "Comic Perversion" • "Gridiron Soldier" • "Gambler's Fallacy" • "Criminal Stories" • "Downloaded Child" • "Beast's Obsession" • "Post-Mortem Blues" • "Reasonable Doubt" • "Thought Criminal" • "Spring Awakening"
- Season 16: "Girls Disappeared" • "American Disgrace" • "Producer's Backend" • "Holden's Manifesto" • "Pornstar's Requiem" • "Glasgowman's Wrath" • "Chicago Crossover" • "Spousal Privilege" • "Pattern Seventeen" • "Forgiving Rollins" • "Decaying Morality" • "Intimidation Game" • "Undercover Mother" • "December Solstice" • "Parole Violations" • "Devastating Story" • "Granting Immunity" • "Daydream Believer" • "Perverted Justice" • "Surrendering Noah"
- Season 17: "Devil's Dissections" • "Criminal Pathology" • "Transgender Bridge" • "Institutional Fail" • "Community Policing" • "Maternal Instincts" • "Patrimonial Burden" • "Depravity Standard" • "Catfishing Teacher" • "A Misunderstanding" • "Forty-One Witnesses" • "Nationwide Manhunt" • "Collateral Damages" • "Star-Struck Victims" • "Manhattan Transfer" • "Unholiest Alliance" • "Sheltered Outcasts" • "Fashionable Crimes" • "Assaulting Reality" • "Intersecting Lives" • "Heartfelt Passages"
- Chicago P.D. (2 seasons, 2 episodes):
- Season 1: "Conventions"
- Season 2: "They'll Have to Go Through Me"
- Chicago Fire (1 season, 1 episode):
- Season 3: "Nobody Touches Anything"
Notes and trivia
- She has a pit bull, Frannie, that has appeared and been mentioned in multiple episodes. Frannie helped Amanda run down William Lewis after he flashed two tourists in Central Park. (SVU: "Her Negotiation")
- Her father called her Mandy. (SVU: "Gridiron Soldier")
- She grew up in Loganville, Georgia. (SVU: "Gridiron Soldier"). Kelli Giddish was born in Cumming, Georgia, 33 miles northwest of Loganville.
- She often goes to Gambler's Anonymous meetings for her gambling addiction. (SVU: "Gambler's Fallacy") She made out numerous times with her sponsor, much to the anger of Amaro and Fin. (SVU: "Rapist Anonymous")
- She once used the alias of Megan Wheeler to obtain evidence while undercover. Megan Wheeler is the name of the Julianne Nicholson character from Law & Order: Criminal Intent. (SVU: "Gambler's Fallacy")
- She has a tattoo of her name on her forearm.
- Her badge number is 0458. (SVU: "Gambler's Fallacy")
- She refers to her father as daddy. (SVU: "Gridiron Soldier")
- Kelli Giddish also plays as rape victim Kara Bawson (SVU: "Outsider")
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit - Main Characters | |
Senior Detectives: Elliot Stabler • John Munch • Odafin Tutuola • Olivia Benson • Amanda Rollins Junior Detectives: Olivia Benson • Monique Jeffries • Odafin Tutuola • Chester Lake • Amanda Rollins • Nick Amaro • Dominick Carisi, Jr. • Katriona Tamin • Joe Velasco • Grace Muncy Squad Supervisors: John Munch • Olivia Benson • Odafin Tutuola Commanding Officers: Donald Cragen • Olivia Benson • Christian Garland Assistant District Attorneys: Alexandra Cabot • Casey Novak • Kim Greylek • Rafael Barba • Peter Stone • Dominick Carisi, Jr. Others: Melinda Warner • George Huang |