“Chicago P.D” returns to NBC with new episodes on Tuesday January 3, and the two hour winter finale certainly left fans speculating about what’s to come. In fact, at an event held in Chicago, the cast struggled to articulate anything about the rest of the season, but promised that the dramatic winter send off will certainly keep viewers coming back in the New Year.
The police procedural is set in the heart of the Windy City, hometown of series star LaRoyce Hawkins (Officer Kevin Atwater). When EUR/Electronic Urban Report caught-up with the actor at NBC’s Chicago day, we both agreed that our favorite Atwater moment from this season came when he told Lieutenant Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) that, “You got to care and not care at the same time.”
You can watch the scene via the player below.
When asked if he finds this statement to be a common attitude among black cops who patrol urban areas, Hawkins said: “Naturally you have to care to do your job well, also because it’s very human to care and if you’re from the area like Atwater is, and if you’re just connected to that kind of culture, naturally you care about it.”
He added, “But the not caring part happens because you don’t want to be affected, but also you want to do your job well. And so it’s like, we find ourselves in situations all the time if we’re too emotional or too worked up, or too into the situation, you can find yourself not really being the most effective.”
READ RELATED STORY: Eamonn Walker, LaRoyce Hawkins Reflect on Heroic ‘Chicago’ Characters [EUR exclusive]
Being from Harvey, a suburb about 30 minutes south of Chicago, playing a cop on the show has given Hawkins a truly unique perspective of both sides of the line.
“I think in that moment with that line Atwater grew, and LaRoyce grew cause at that point I understood like, wow, this is a moment where Atwater is realizing for the first time not just how to do his job but how to be a better big brother, how to be a better man, how to be a better cop, how to be more effective on his team. And I think in the moment, Voight realizes too. So it wasn’t until Atwater showed Voight, like… you have to care and not care at the same time. I think it hit Voight, and in that moment Voight is like, ‘I’m glad you’re in my unit… because you get it.’
Voight is the type of cop who often plays by his own rules, and when we sat down with actor Jason Beghe, we asked how often real life cops hit him up to confess that they see themselves in his character.
“It’s an interesting thing. I mean, all I have is anecdotal evidence cause I haven’t met all the cops in Chicago, but when I run into them, they are very happy to see me,” he said. “One of the most interesting comments that I get, and even from people who have brothers or fathers who are cops from all different cities will tell me that they love my character and cops say to me a lot, and its kinda confidential, they go: ‘I’d be in your unit in a New York second.’ Which I find kind of interesting because from the outside he looks like a guy who doesn’t play by the rules but his intention is good, and he’s trying to do what’s best. Sometimes the rules should be applied, and maybe not other times, so it’s an interesting thing.
He also noted that Voight’s effort “to do the right thing is gratifying.”
Beghe continued, “But breaking the rules for your own personal gain is not the right thing, and I don’t think Voight… if he has money in that safe, that maybe he took off a drug dealer, you gotta remember he doesn’t have a speedboat and every time he’s used that money it’s to help somebody who’s in trouble. So, is that justifiable? That’s for you to decide, not me. It’s just what he does.”
In the year since we last spoke to LaRoyce, at NBC’s Chicago day 2015, there’s been an increase of police violence in urban areas across the nation, and the response to it has been the Black Lives Matter movement. Hawkins explained how the tense social climate we live in now has only “reinforced” what he’s been learning “not just about cops but about the culture also,” he said.
“I think within that year, social media and technology in general has really grown and become a lot more accessible to us. So I think the growth of that makes the growth of the other things seem a lot more powerful,” Hawkins explained.
The campaigns against violence and systemic racism toward black people has given Hawkins and his cast mates, “A greater responsibility to play people who are the examples of cops that have character and integrity and are accountable and responsible. I think it forces the show to show more examples of that kind of positivity and that kind of growth.”
Catch LaRoyce Hawkins and Jason Beghe when “Chicago P.D.” returns Jan. 3 at 10/9c on NBC. You can get caught up on past episodes here.
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