Brian Cassidy

Template:LawandOrderCharacter Det. Brian Cassidy was a fictional character on the TV drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, portrayed by Dean Winters during the program's first season (1999-2000).

Character overview

Cassidy is a detective in Manhattan's 16th Precinct, or the "Special Victims Unit," which deals with sex crimes. He is partnered with John Munch (Richard Belzer), and occasionally Monique Jeffries (Michelle Hurd).

The youngest and most inexperienced member of the precinct, Cassidy has a genuine desire to put rapists and child molesters in prison, but lacks the professional detachment necessary to deal with particularly grisly sex crimes or remain objective toward victims and perpetrators of sexual assault. He often has trouble concealing his anger and revulsion toward the cases he investigates; this sometimes creates friction between him and his colleagues, made worse when they poke fun at his relative lack of sophistication.

While far from an intellectual, Cassidy is a genuinely talented and driven police detective. He makes real effort to learn from the other members of the precinct, particularly Munch, whom he thinks of as a sort of older brother/mentor figure. He has a more troubled relationship with Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), with whom he has a brief affair that she ends when he gets too close.

Toward the end of the season, the horrifying crimes he dealt begin to wear him down. The final straw occurs in the episode "Disrobed", when Capt. Donald Cragen (Dann Florek) sends him to check up on a teenaged rape victim. After the young girl tells him in detail how she had been systematically violated by her abuser and then gang-raped, Cassidy decides he lacks the stomach to deal with sex crimes, and transfers to the NYPD's Narcotics Division.