LaRoyce Hawkins exits Chicago P.D. after 13 seasons

Actor LaRoyce Hawkins will depart the long-running NBC drama "Chicago P.D." early in its upcoming 14th season, concluding his 13-season tenure as Officer Kevin Atwater. According to reports, Hawkins will return for the first few episodes of the new season to wrap up his character's storyline before exiting as a series regular.

Hawkins has portrayed Atwater, a patrol officer who rose to become a key member of the Intelligence Unit, since the show's premiere in 2014. His departure marks the exit of another original cast member, following Jesse Lee Soffer in 2022 and Tracy Spiridakos in 2024. Representatives for the show's production company, Wolf Entertainment, have declined to comment on the matter.

While the exact circumstances of Atwater's exit have not been officially revealed, the show laid narrative groundwork in its 13th season. In that storyline, Atwater reconnected with an old friend, Officer Tasha Fox, who later revealed she was pregnant with his child before returning to Miami. This development provides a potential path for the character to leave Chicago for a personal life and fatherhood, allowing the writers to write him out without killing off the character and...