Mariska Hargitay has helped the DA solve thousands of sex crimes

Mariska Hargitay hasn’t reserved her impressive detective skills for the TV screen – she solves some cases in real life too.

Recent, The date line NBC’s Andrea Canning joined Today show to discuss the newest episode of Dateline True Crime Weekly and revealed that Hargitay, 60, had helped a Michigan prosecutor with thousands of sexual assault cases.

The Law and Order: Special Victims Unit star-funded prosecutor Kym Worthy on her way to solving thousands of cases. Worthy first discovered that more than 11,000 untested rape kits were sitting on a shelf in an evidence room. She took matters into her own hands and worked to test them all.

However, money was needed to test all these kits and, as Canning said, “So who stepped in? None other than Law and orderit’s Mariska Hargitay.”

Canning, 51, explained that the actress “helped them raise the money to do this”. As a result, thousands of cases were solved and 22 serial rapists were discovered.

The The date line The broadcaster also noted that Worthy and Hargitay’s work is “having a ripple effect across the country (and) making changes everywhere — for police departments to prosecutors.”

This isn’t the first time Hargitay has helped law enforcement. Earlier this year, in April, while filming one of the final episodes of the 25th season of Law and Order: Special Victims Unitshe was approached by a little girl who thought she was a real police officer based on the badge she wore as part of her character’s outfit.

At the time, a witness told PEOPLE that the little girl had been separated from her mother at Anne Loftus Playground in Fort Tryon Park and asked the actress for help. Hargitay obliged and then stopped production for 20 minutes to help the child find his mother and comfort them both.

The witness noted that the young woman was misunderstood by both the film crew and Hargitay’s stage partner, Ice-T.

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The Dateline True Crime Weekly The episode will air Thursday, August 15 on NBC. Law and Order: SVU season 26 premieres Thursday, October 3 at 9:00 PM ET on NBC.