Monique Jeffries

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Law & Order character
Detective Monique Jeffries
Time on show	1999-2000
Preceded by	Brian Cassidy
Succeeded by	Odafin "Fin" Tutuola
First appearance	Payback
Last appearance	Runaway
Portrayed by	Michelle Hurd

Detective Monique Jeffries was a fictional character on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, played by Michelle Hurd.

[edit] On SVU

Jeffries was a police detective with Manhattan's 16th Precinct, which investigated sex crimes. Early in the show she was partnered with various detectives such as Detective Brian Cassidy and Detective Ken Briscoe, but would be permanently partnered with Detective John Munch towards the end of the first season, replacing Cassidy as Munch's partner.

[edit] Character evolution

Shortly after she was teamed with Munch, Jeffries was injured when a car exploded while she and Munch were investigating a case. This incident left her vulnerable, and she had a one night stand with a man she knew to be a suspect in a sexual assault case the unit had investigated.

In the episode "Slaves," she confessed the incident to a department psychiatrist, who was working for a commission which was investigating problems in various police units. Jeffries was taken off active police duty until she could receive treatment for her problems. Her place in the squad was taken by Detective Odafin Tutuola, and she was the first in the squad to speak with him when he reported for duty. Jeffries introduced herself and offered to help him when he entered the unit, and found out he was her replacement when she looked at his file.

Jeffries found desk duty to be intolerable, and blamed Cragen for supporting the commission's decision. In the episode "Wrong is Right," she resigned and sued the department for discrimination.

Jeffries was eventually reinstated and transferred to the NYPD's Vice Squad. She would appear on the show one last time in the second-season episode "Runaway," in which she helped her former colleagues locate the runaway daughter of a fellow police officer.