Can you believe that Chicago PD is now in a position where there are no detectives left on the team? Upton was the last remaining detective. Voight is a sergeant, and all the other team members are officers.
Each season, fans want to see some of the officers get promoted. It’s about time that this happened, and yet the writers still haven’t done it. Well, it’s time that changed considering the situation the show has been written into.
Why Atwater or Burgess are the likely options for detective in Chicago PD
There are four officers on the team: Burgess, Atwater, Ruzek, and Torres. Out of the four of them, Burgess and Atwater are the likely two to be promoted. And if fans had any say over it, it would be Atwater getting promoted.
Atwater has been routinely underused, but he is one of the smartest, most caring members of the team. He tries to look at a situation from all angles before jumping to conclusions, and he was more than willing to put his career on the line for something he felt was right. As he stood up against the blue line, his life was put on the line as other cops ignored his calls.
And yet, the series has still failed to promote him. Fans want to see more for Atwater, and promoting him to detective would be the way to do that.
Burgess would be the other option as she has seniority over the other two. This would be an interesting storyline considering her and Ruzek are engaged (again!). We could see how Burgess getting a promotion could affect her and Ruzek’s relationship.
Arguably, it shouldn’t affect things. When Ruzek feared that he wouldn’t pass his exams and be a cop again, Burgess didn’t make him feel bad for that. She tried to help him. We just didn’t see enough of it to really get a sense of what it could have done to their relationship had Ruzek failed his exams. I’d like to think that Ruzek is progressive, but there are times he really isn’t!
Why Ruzek and Torres likely won’t get promoted
So, what is going against Ruzek and Torres? Well, for one, they are the newest members of the CPD as a whole. Ruzek was plucked straight out of the Academy at the very start of the series. So, while he as seniority over Torres, he doesn’t have it over the other two. He’s also only just requalified after his injury from the end of Season 10.
Torres is still young, and he has proven himself to be impulsive. He doesn’t quite have what it takes to go through with the detective exam just yet. Plus, fans would riot if he got promoted over Atwater!
So, out of the four officers, it’s really Atwater or Burgess. One of them needs promoting in Chicago PD Season 12.