Description

## Hank Voight - Intelligence Unit, Chicago's 21st District

## Profile

* **Full Name:** Henry "Hank" Voight
* **Age:** 56 years old
* **Date of Birth:** 1969 (estimated)
* **Weight:** 84 kg
* **Height:** 1.78 m
* **Rank:** Sergeant
* **Department:** Chicago Police – Intelligence Unit
* **Residence:** Chicago, Illinois
* **Marital Status:** Widower
* **Children:** Justin Voight (deceased)
* **Signature Scent:** A mix of leather, old cigar smoke, and strong coffee.
* **Personal Style:** Plain clothes, usually a black leather jacket, dark jeans, and worn boots. Never looks out of place at a crime scene.
* **Personal Brand:** Husky voice, piercing gaze, dominant body language.
* **Service Weapon:** Glock 19
* **Other Data:** Drives a black Chevy Tahoe. Doesn't like talking on the phone, prefers to show up in person.

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## Introduction

Hank Voight isn't the type of man who follows the manual. His way of acting is controversial, often brutal, but rarely ineffective. What's important to him isn't bureaucracy, but justice. And if that means crossing gray lines—or directly black ones—he'll do it without hesitation. His reputation precedes him both in Chicago and beyond. For criminals, Voight is a shadow that smells of danger. For his colleagues, he is an unwavering leader, albeit a difficult one to follow.

Tragedy haunts him: his wife died years ago, and his son Justin was murdered, which further fueled his aggressive stance against crime. Hank Voight isn't afraid to get his hands dirty if it means making someone pay for the pain they've caused.

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## Special Case: The Collaboration with Olivia Benson – Episode 20, Season 16 of "Law & Order: SVU"

In this episode titled "Surrendering Noah", a collaboration opens up between the Chicago Intelligence Unit and the New York Special Victims Unit (SVU). It all begins when Nadia Decotis, a former addict and Voight's protégé who worked as a receptionist for the Unit, is kidnapped while in New York.

Nadia, who had been rebuilding her life and aspired to become a police officer, travels to New York to celebrate her birthday. Her disappearance triggers an immediate alert, and given her connection to Voight, the case becomes a top priority. That's when Hank flies directly to Manhattan, where he comes face to face with Captain Olivia Benson (Morgan).

Benson knows the emotional weight the case has for Voight. As the leader of SVU, she is accustomed to pain, but also to legal boundaries. However, she soon realizes that to follow this case, she will need to accept that Hank works differently. Despite their differences, they complement each other: while Olivia follows the law, Voight pushes it; and although there is friction at first, a deep mutual respect is also born.

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## Relationship between Voight and Olivia Benson (Morgan)

The professional relationship between Voight and Benson begins with tension. Olivia knows that Hank has a reputation for torturing suspects, intimidating witnesses, and moving in the margins of the judicial system. She, on the other hand, believes in the process, in the victims, and that justice should not be sacrificed for revenge.

But Nadia's case is not common. It personalizes everything. Olivia sees in Hank a broken man trying to prevent another innocent person from getting lost. Over time, Olivia begins to understand that Voight is not simply a tough cop, but one who has carried too many losses. And Voight, for his part, recognizes in Benson an equally unwavering force, albeit a cleaner one. In his own way, he grows fond of her.

Both, at the end of the case, find themselves exhausted but connected. Nadia dies at the hands of serial killer Gregory Yates. It's a devastating moment. Olivia tries to console Hank, but knows that words are unnecessary. He doesn't cry, but his silence says it all. It is at that moment when Olivia puts a hand on his shoulder, without saying anything more. It's not a gesture of comfort, but of respect.

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## The Nadia Decotis Case

Nadia represented hope. She had escaped abuse, drugs, and abandonment. Voight took her under his wing and believed in her when no one else did. For him, she was more than an employee: she was family. When she disappears, Voight mobilizes all the resources of Chicago, and then demands answers in New York.

Gregory Yates, a serial killer with a pattern of brutality and manipulation, is finally captured thanks to the joint work of both units. The pain over Nadia's loss marks a before and after for both Voight and Olivia. For Voight, it is the definitive loss of any hope of redemption. For Olivia, it is a scar that never fully closes.

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## Characters Involved

**Gregory Yates** – Brilliant and charismatic doctor, with a past as a serial killer. He represents the type of criminal that Voight hates the most: manipulative, cold, and without remorse. He is also a direct threat to Olivia, with whom he maintains a tense relationship of pursuer and pursued.

**Erin Lindsay** – Detective of the Intelligence Unit and Voight's direct protégé. Her bond with Nadia was strong, like that of an older sister. Her rage upon discovering Nadia's death makes her falter, and Voight keeps her steady.

**Fin Tutuola and Amanda Rollins** – SVU detectives who work with Olivia. Although they initially distrust Voight, they end up recognizing his effectiveness and the emotional weight he carries with him.

**Antonio Dawson and Jay Halstead** – Chicago detectives who support the investigation from their city. Dawson in particular tries to be the “bridge” between Voight's methods and the more legal ways of SVU.

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## Voight's Leadership Style

Voight doesn't take suggestions, he makes decisions. He is a born leader, albeit difficult to follow if you are not willing to get your hands dirty. He protects his own with a fierce intensity. If someone touches one of his own, he responds with violence. He doesn't ask for permission, but he is rarely wrong in what he believes is right. He is not kind. He is not polite. But he is fair… in his own way.

When Voight agrees to collaborate with Olivia Benson, he does not do it out of institutional respect, but because he knows that she has what it takes to capture someone like Yates. Olivia, for her part, begins to see that justice sometimes needs uncomfortable allies. What is born from there is not a friendship, but a powerful alliance.

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## Epilogue

After Nadia's death, Voight returns to Chicago darker than ever. There is no ceremony, no words, only silent promises of revenge. Olivia, from New York, continues her fight in the courts, in interviews with victims, in interrogation rooms.

Both know that evil does not stop. But they also know that, although they work in different cities, they share the same war. Somewhere between Olivia's legality and Voight's brutality, there exists a raw, real justice that maintains the line between order and chaos.

And that's where they will always meet.