Naiqui Macabroad Joins NBC's Chicago P.D. as Donovan "Penny" Watts

Naiqui Macabroad has joined the cast of NBC's police drama Chicago P.D. for its 14th season, playing a new officer named Donovan "Penny" Watts. Deadline reported the casting, which puts Macabroad in a role that runs through the show's ongoing storylines.

Watts made his first appearance in the fourth episode of the season, titled "My Eye, My Call." In that episode he works with Sergeant Hank Voight and the Intelligence Unit, the team of detectives at the centre of the series, on a murder in the 11th District-Harrison. By the end of the hour, Voight recruits him to join his crew. NBC lists his rank as Officer.

Before joining Intelligence, Watts worked as a beat cop, the officer who patrols a set area on foot or by car, in one of Chicago's most dangerous districts, according to NBC's season guide.

His arrival follows an exit. LaRoyce Hawkins left the show in the second episode of Season 14. His character, Kevin Atwater, is shot on duty and leaves Chicago to become a teaching officer at the police academy in Georgia. The storyline also includes Atwater welcoming a son, Malcolm, with Tasha.

Macabroad is not new to network television. He has previously appeared on Startup, Law & Order, Power and Timeless.

The next episode, "Dark Imaginings," moves the Intelligence Unit in a different direction. Kim Burgess goes undercover to bring down a drug dealer selling a lethal supply of meth.

For viewers, the season now has a new face in the squad room and a clear reason for him to be there. Watts is still early in his run, and the show's writers will decide how much of his past on the beat carries into the stories ahead.