Chicago P.D. Season 12: Meet Toya Turner’s ‘Action-Oriented’ Officer Kiana Cook
A former Warrior Nun will report for duty during Chicago P.D. Season 12, as seen in the above photo from Toya Turner’s debut as Kiana Cook, a police officer “who loves the adrenaline of the job and its stakes, and doesn’t blink in the face of chaos.”
TVLine was first to report on Turner’s casting, back in July.
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“She’s very cool. She’s very different,” P.D. showrunner Gwen Sigan tells TVLine of the Intelligence unit’s imminent recruit. “She’s coming from patrol, which is nice. She’s not a brand-new officer. When we meet her, we’ll realize, ‘Oh, she’s been on the force for a few years,’ so we get to see that she knows her way around. She knows what she’s doing.”
As for what kind of an Intelligence officer Kiana will be, Sigan says that she is “very action-oriented” and “not scared to get in there, to get messy. She likes to run and gun, to be in the thick of it.”
And she doesn’t always necessarily let her actions do the talking.
“She’s certainly a character who speaks her mind,” Sigan previews. “She has been through a lot within the police department and is looking for a place where she fits in and they do the job in the way that she loves to do the job, where they stand with integrity. And so, she’s going to find a family within the 21st.”
Kiana represents the first Black female Intelligence officer that viewers have met, and “that, I think, is going to open up a lot of story for us,” says Sigan, “and give us a lot of great opportunities to tell stories maybe we haven’t gotten an opportunity to yet, or we haven’t gotten to dive into as deeply as we would like. It’s exciting, and great for the show.”
Turner is no stranger to #OneChicago, having previously guest-starred on both Chicago Med and Chicago Fire. (Her TV credits also include NBC’s New Amsterdam.) Her arrival on P.D. comes in the wake of Tracy Spiridakos’ departure as Det. Hailey Upton in the Season 11 finale, after eight seasons with the show. (Read our post-mortem interview with Sigan about Upton’s exit here.)
Chicago P.D. Season 12 premieres this Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 10/9c; Turner debuts as Kiana in Episode 2. (With reporting by Keisha Hatchett)
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