Amanda Rollins transferred to Manhattan SVU from the Atlanta Police Department, commonly shortened to Atlanta PD.
Rollins is introduced as an experienced detective from Atlanta, Georgia, who moves to New York and joins the Manhattan Special Victims Unit during season 13. Her Atlanta background is not merely biographical: several early storylines connect her to cases and personal experiences from her former department.
Her transfer also explains why Rollins sometimes approaches SVU investigations differently from Benson and the other Manhattan detectives. She brings knowledge of Atlanta cases, including a serial rapist she believes has continued operating after moving to New York. That case nearly makes Rollins a victim herself.
A common mix-up is confusing Rollins's Atlanta assignment with the NYPD precinct where she works after arriving in Manhattan. Atlanta PD is her former department; Manhattan SVU is her New York unit.