18 Facts About Fin Tutuola

Fin Tutuola is a sergeant with the New York Police Department's Special Victims Unit.

Fin Tutuola was raised in the Harlem area of New York City and was six years old during the 1968 riots following the Martin Luther King Jr.

Fin Tutuola later describes institutionalizing his grandfather as "the worst decision [he] ever made"; in his grief, rage, and guilt, he started fights with fellow officers "for the hell of it" and was almost kicked off the force until an academy instructor intervened and helped him salvage his career.

Fin Tutuola was previously a US Army Ranger and served on two tours.

Fin Tutuola is an avid fan of first-person shooter video games and is a regular at an annual video game convention.

Fin Tutuola explains to his colleagues that he views these games as an escape from the grey areas he faces in his job; he finds solace in the "black and white" nature of these games, in which he gets to hunt down and defeat a clearly defined "bad guy".

Fin Tutuola left Narcotics and transferred to SVU when his partner took a bullet that was meant for him.

Fin Tutuola initially has a rocky relationship with his colleagues in SVU, especially with Munch and Olivia Benson.

Fin Tutuola tries to separate his private and professional life as much as possible and keeps a tight rein on his emotions, refusing to talk about his problems or to admit that the grisly nature of his work often affects him.

Years later, when Stabler, who quit SVU in 2011, returns to New York after spending 10 years in Italy, Fin Tutuola is the first person he calls.

When Rollins loses thousands of dollars at an underground casino, Fin Tutuola gives her some money and tells her to get help, and he is the first to defend her when she becomes a suspect in a corruption case involving the casino.

When Benson, now a Lieutenant and SVU's commanding officer, demands an explanation, Fin Tutuola says that he had encountered Marks by chance while vacationing in Cuba, a lie Benson chooses to accept.

In "Sightless in a Savage Land", Fin Tutuola becomes engaged to Sergeant Phoebe Baker, his former partner from Narcotics.

An example is his partnership with Munch, that over 13 years grew from icy dislike to mutual respect and good-natured banter, often about politics, as Munch is politically liberal and Fin Tutuola is a Republican.

Fin Tutuola is shot and gravely wounded while attempting to stop a holdup at a bodega; after being released from the hospital, he spends little time recovering, instead throwing himself back into work finding a kidnapping victim and busting a methamphetamine lab.

When Ken's fiance Alejandro is assaulted in a hate crime, Fin Tutuola takes charge of the investigation, and persuades Alejandro's homophobic father to accept Ken into his family.

In "Intersecting Lives", Fin Tutuola learns that he is due to be a grandfather, as Ken and Alejandro are expecting a baby via surrogate.

Information about Amos Tutuola, recounted in the introduction of The Palm Wine Drinkard, states that his grandfather was an Odofin, the spiritual leader of a clan, and Tutuola was the given name of the author's father; Odofin literally means "the establisher of laws" or "law giver" in the Yoruba language of southwestern Nigeria.