The story for this episode is based on four Lakewood, WA cops who were shot in November, 2009 in a coffee shop while going over morning briefings. The suspect was shot before he could be arrested/brought to trial.
Jack McCoy mentions having seen one execution. This is a callback to Aftershock (1996), where the cast witnesses an execution.
Both Michael Potts and Julito McCullum had roles in The Wire (2002), however Potts appeared in his final episode the season before McCullum joined the cast.