Why is Kevin Atwater leaving Chicago PD? LaRoyce Hawkins' exit comes with a replacement already cast
One of the last original faces of the Intelligence Unit walks out the door in October — and the show had his successor's job description written before fans finished reading the news.
After thirteen seasons, LaRoyce Hawkins is done. Deadline broke the news in July: the actor who has played Officer Kevin Atwater since Chicago PD premiered in 2014 — and originated him on Chicago Fire before that — exits at the top of Season 14, appearing only in the first episodes to close out the character's story. The season premieres Wednesday, October 7, with Atwater's final hour landing as early as episode two. Blink and he's gone.
The exit was hiding in plain sight
The writers spent Season 13 building Atwater a door and politely pointing at it. He reconnected with academy friend Tasha Fox (Karen Obilom), who took a job with Miami PD and left behind an orange and an open invitation; he spent episodes drafting texts he never sent; then Tasha showed up at his door pregnant. Nobody needs a detective's badge to solve where this is going — the smart money has Atwater trading the Windy City for the Sunshine State, alive and happy, which by Chicago PD standards is practically a lottery win.
The fandom's grief is real, because Atwater wasn't just an original. One longtime critic of the show called the character "the soul of the series" — the one cop in Voight's unit whose whole worldview was community rather than kicked-in doors. The comment sections skew less lyrical:
"I've had enough changes for a while please and thank you."
The replacement, and the whiplash
Here's the cold-blooded part: the same report that announced Hawkins' departure confirmed his successor's slot was already built. The show began casting a new series regular — a Black cop described in the breakdown as "an agent of chaos" — before cameras rolled on Season 14 in late July. The anti-Atwater, in other words, hired to fill his desk but pointedly not his shoes. The actor's name hasn't been announced yet; the role has simply been waiting, fully formed, since the day the exit news dropped.
The bookkeeping of who remains:
- Originals still standing: Jason Beghe, Marina Squerciati, Patrick John Flueger, and Amy Morton — four out of the 2014 lineup, once Hawkins goes.
- The recent churn: Jesse Lee Soffer, Tracy Spiridakos, and one-season officer Kiana Cook (Toya Turner) all exited in the past few years; Arienne Mandi's Eva Imani joined in Season 13.
- The fine print: One Chicago's cost-cutting rotation continues, so expect even returning regulars to sit out episodes.
Season 14 runs 21 episodes, airing Wednesdays at 10 on NBC and streaming next day on Peacock.
Previously we wrote: Line of Fire premieres tonight on NBC: what to expect as Peter Krause trades 9-1-1 for the Secret Service
