This Law And Order story operates under the mantra of better to err on the side of caution. Also Sam Waterston now running for office in his own right as DA is making more decisions based on politics.
The old Waterston probably would have dropped this one for the hot potato it is and Adam Schiff, Nora Lewin, or Arthur Branch would have taken the heat. But he's got a race coming up and a governor backing his opponent.
This one starts out as a shooting of a young man who was looking through trash. Poor kid just happened to pick a trash can where a ransom drop is being made. The distraught father of a kidnapped girl shoots him. And then it turns out the daughter isn't dead, the whole thing is a scam, a fairly new racket called virtual kidnapping. You just pretend that the victim is being kidnapped, collect the money and run.
So when the virtual kidnapper is arrested it turns out to be a Syrian refugee Ben Youcef who leads the police, the DA's office and the Feds on a merry chase. I can't describe the plot further, it's so unbelievable.
Proving also that even law enforcement will err on the side of caution as no one wants to have another 9/11 on their watch. Prosecutors who are elected officials would like a terrorism conviction or two under their belt also, good for re-election points. People who are in the USA as refugees will do anything to say. Youcef has certainly found this country to be a land of opportunity as a professional terrorism informant.
You have to see how this all turns out.