'Chicago P.D.' Adds New Cast Member and Teases a Potential Wedding

Chicago P.D. returns for its 12 ^th season on NBC this fall and there are going to be some major changes, considering that for the second season in a row, the show lost a major character with the departure of Hailey Upton ( Tracy Spiridakos ). Last season it was Jesse Lee Sofer (Jay Halstead).

“I think the thing I’m most excited about right now is all of our characters are set up to go one of two ways, you know?” showrunner Gwen Sigan told Parade in an exclusive interview. “Especially Voight, we’ve got Voight to this place where he’s lost Upton, Upton’s left and we’ve seen that he’s become a lot more vulnerable; he’s become a lot more open.”

Since its inception back in January 2014, Chicago P.D. has had to change to reflect what’s happening in the culture as far as policing goes, and Sigan is striving to find the right balance for the new season as well.

“You want to be responsible always,” she says. “I think that's the most important thing. And then for us, we try hard not to preach, we try really hard not to be overly political, we want to show as much as we can things as they are, and just show the mass number of complications. You want it to be black and white and it never is, it’s always this mixture of gray. The show lives in the cost of what this job does and, in the dilemmas, and the moral-ethical quandaries that the show brings up.”

Related: Chicago P.D. Showrunner Gwen Sigan on the Cat-and-Mouse Game Between Voight and Serial Killer Frank Matson

Here's everything we know so far about Season 12:

What does Chicago P.D. Season 12 start?

NBC has yet to announce its Fall release dates for the 2024-2025 season but look for it in the second half of September.

What time will Chicago P.D. season 12 be on?

When Chicago P.D. returns for its 12th season, it will be back in its Wednesday night at 10 p.m. ET/PT timeslot.

Who is cast in Chicago P.D. Season 12?

Jason Beghe as Sergeant Hank Voight

Patrick John Flueger as Officer Adam Ruzek

Marina Squerciati as Officer Kim Burgess

LaRoyce Hawkins as Officer Kevin Atwater

Amy Morton as Sergeant Trudy Platt

Benjamin Levy Aguilar as Officer Dante Torres

Related: Tracy Spiridakos Reveals Why She's Leaving Chicago P.D.

Who will be joining Chicago P.D. in Season 12?

Toya Turner is set to join Chicago P.D. in the role of Kiana Cook, a patrol officer who loves the adrenaline of the job and its stakes and doesn’t blink in the face of chaos, according to TV Line . The departure of Tracy Spiridakos created an opening in the Intelligence Unit. Turner has previously guested on Chicago Med and Chicago Fire. This photo is from her recurring role on New Amsterdam.

Who is leaving Chicago P.D. in Season 12?

Tracy Spiridakos exited her role as Detective Hailey Upton in the Season 11 finale episode, deciding it was time to move on. One of the issues raised is that her relationship with Voight wasn't good for her, but Sigan doesn't think that's the case.

" No, personally I don’t," she told Parade. "I think that everybody’s probably a bit good and bad for everybody, and that was certainly their relationship. I think they could be both. They could be good for each other, they could be bad for each other, but I think at the end of the day what Upton said is probably true. That she came into the unit with all of this, right? She came in already built, already a person, and already this person that was defined by trauma in a lot of ways.

"And it’s something that Voight’s always just intrinsically understood. And so, to me, that was them just finally saying that out loud in that scene. Finally being able to articulate some of that, which two people who usually don’t talk about their feelings, it was really nice to have a scene like that at the end where they could."

Will Bojana Novakovic replace Tracy Spiridakos on Season 12 of Chicago P.D.

Bojana Novakovic as Josephine Petrovic was an interesting character to add to the guest star cast, but whether she will become permanent is still up in the air.

“I don’t completely know yet," Sigan said when asked if she would replace Upton. "We’ve got nothing but possibility right now considering we are a small unit, considering that we’ve got room to bring in another character, hopefully, somebody different, someone that can challenge everyone and change the dynamics up. So, I’m hopeful we’ll be able to, but I don’t know. We’ll see.”

Is there a trailer for Chicago P.D. Season 12?

An official trailer for Chicago P.D. Season 12 has yet to be released but check back here. We will post as soon as it’s available.

Are there any spoilers for Chicago P.D. Season 12?

Here is what we learned from Sigan:

Is there the possibility of a Burgess-Ruzek wedding? “I think there’s definitely a chance! Of course, a possibility. Our show is not always living too much in the personal, but yeah, they’ve got this huge thing awaiting them which is marriage and all of the fun that you can show with it. So yeah, the door is open.”

How will Voight change with the departure of Upton? “Someone very close to him has left, so now what does he do? Does he shut down again? Does he go back to baseline? Is he an island again or does he keep going with this new side of him, which I think is a lot more open to letting people see him a little bit more and being a tiny bit introspective, right? Like a tiny bit more aware than he’s been over the years.”

What happened at the end of Chicago P.D. Season 11?

There were two major developments. The first was Hank Voight had been kidnapped by serial killer Frank Matson ( Dennis Flanagan ) and the Intelligence team raced against the clock to find Voight before Matson killed him. As Matson tortured Voight, trying to get him to call Upton to join him -- Matson's M.O., Voight hallucinated an appearance by Alvin Olinsky ( Elias Koteas ), whose character died in prison at the end of Season 5. Olinsky told him it wasn't his time and he needed to hang on for Upton.

Like Olinsky, who had been in prison because of his loyalty to Voight, Upton was willing to sacrifice herself in order to save Voight, so when Matson contacted her -- Voight never broke, she responded. But the two cops managed to foil Matson's plan and it was he who ended up dead by Voight's hand.

The second big development, of course, was the departure of Upton, who realized that she needed to start over. She told Voight she was scared to leave the team and scared she didn’t deserve something more, but he reassured her that she definitely did deserve something more.

Just before Upton got into a cab, it looked as if she might stick with law enforcement, but more on the federal level as she looked at info re the FBI and DEA.

How to watch Chicago P.D.

Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Viewers can stream episodes the following day on Peacock.

Where to watch and live stream Chicago P.D. online

All 11 seasons of Chicago Fire are available on streaming service Peacock. Previous seasons are also available on Amazon Prime and IMDBTV.

How many seasons of Chicago P.D. are there?

Chicago P.D. premiered January 8, 2014. There have been 11 seasons of the NBC hit series. The upcoming season will make 12.

Next, NBC Announces Its Fall 2024-2025 Schedule, Including the Chicago Shows