Sergeant Michael "Mike" Dodds was second in command at the Special Victims Unit. He was transferred to SVU by his father, Deputy Chief William Dodds when Olivia Benson was promoted to Lieutenant.
On SVU[]
Mike initially had his concerns about a case, involving a religious family who had a pregnant teenage daughter. Mike has experience with this kind of case in Crown Heights involving three pregnant underage girls in a Hasidic synagogue before and didn't want SVU to be wasting time. However, this changed when it was discovered that the pastor Gregory Eldon has been responsible for impregnating her. After the case, Mike tells his fellows that he thought SVU should be taking a rapist off the streets not from a church. Benson told him that those criminals lurk where they're trusted. (SVU: "Patrimonial Burden")
Mike was shot in the shoulder by serial killer/rapist Greg Yates during a manhunt in upstate New York after Yates and fellow serial killer/rapist Carl Rudnick escaped from prison. Mike and Chicago P.D. Detective Erin Lindsay pursued Yates after he attacked Rudnick and left him to be recaptured. (SVU: "Nationwide Manhunt")
He attended physical therapy sessions for his injury and his father checked on him. Dodds told him that his shooting has gotten him a commendable record and is likely to boost him up to new career opportunities but Mike was unsure whether that was what he really wanted. He later spoke to Benson who was dealing with a draining case that affected many lives. Much later, he and his father were at a bar watching the case's outcome on the news and he told him that for the time being he'll stay at SVU. (SVU:"Collateral Damages")
He was temporarily made acting commander of SVU after IAB suspended Benson for being involved with Captain Ed Tucker, who was a suspect in an investigation involving a church. (SVU: "Manhattan Transfer")
Mike supported an undercover sting with Amanda Rollins to bring Bobby D'Amico (his father's friend) and his accomplice Noel Panko to trial for gang-rape. Once they were acquitted, he leaked the video evidence, which nearly broke Benson's trust in Rollins when she believed that Rollins was behind it. Mike slyly confided to Benson that he was responsible, saying that D'Amico had it coming to him. (SVU: "Star-Struck Victims")
Mike uses his experiences with his troubled younger brother to get a confession from a man who killed his own brother, which was a successful act. (SVU: "Fashionable Crimes")
Mike was shot during his final day at SVU by corrupt prison guard and serial rapist Gary Munson, who had taken his wife and Mike hostage. At first, Mike appeared to be recovering, but when his fiancée arrived, Benson noticed that he wasn't making sense and called in the doctor. It was eventually determined that Mike had suffered a massive stroke that ultimately left him brain dead. After Mike's organs were recovered for donation, he was taken off life support and died, devastating everyone who knew him. Following his death, Mike was given a hero's funeral; his mother and brother, both of whom were in other countries and had nothing to do with his father for years, came home to help his father deal with his loss. Benson blamed herself for Mike's death and sought counseling, while the incident inspired Tucker to file for a transfer to hostage negotiation. (SVU: "Heartfelt Passages")
Benson never forgave herself for Mike's death and as a result became far more careful with domestic abuse cases, even keeping Tamin on a tight leash when a boy was found with bruises at his school and his mother was found unconscious and beaten in her apartment, which annoyed Tamin but Rollins let Tamin know about Mike, which made her more understanding about Benson's strictness. (SVU: "Ballad Of Dwight and Irena")
Appearances[]
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1 season, 15 episodes):
- Season 17: "Maternal Instincts" • "Patrimonial Burden" • "Melancholy Pursuit" • "Catfishing Teacher" • "Townhouse Incident" • "A Misunderstanding" • "Forty-One Witnesses" • "Nationwide Manhunt" • "Collateral Damages" • "Star-Struck Victims" • "Manhattan Transfer" • "Unholiest Alliance" • "Fashionable Crimes" • "Intersecting Lives" • "Heartfelt Passages"