Chicago PD casts Toya Turner as Upton's potential replacement in season 12

Chicago PD has finally clued fans in on the future of the show's cast. It's been months since we learned that Tracy Spiridakos would be leaving, and sure enough she did in the season 11 finale. There's been widespread speculation as to who would replace the actress, given how crucial she's been to the PD format.

Well, it looks like we may have gotten our answer. TV Line has confirmed that Toya Turner has been added to Chicago PD as a series regular ahead of season 12. The actress will be playing Yara Page, a young and relatively inexperienced patrol officer who proves fearless in the field. The outlet says that the character "loves the adrenaline of the job" and does not back down from threatening situations.

Toya Turner will play a Chicago patrol officer

This sounds like a far cry from the timid officer that Spiridakos' Hailey Upton was when she was first introduced. Chicago PD is officially listing Turner as a regular, meaning that fans won't have to worry whether her character will be written off in a matter of episodes.

Toya Turner's casting is interesting, given that PD introduced a potential replacement for Upton in season 11. We're talking, of course, about Josephine Petrovic (Bojana Novakovic). The character has her share of troubles, but her chemistry with Upton made her an obvious choice to step in and take over her peer's workload.

It's unclear whether Jo Petrovic will return in season 12

Alas, showrunner Gwen Sigan seemed less than convinced about the character's longevity during a recent interview with TV Line. "We don’t know yet," she said, when asked about Petrovic. "We get back in the [writers] room next week, and there’s a lot that we’re going to figure out. But I loved Petrovic on the show this season."

There's no word yet on whether Petrovic will return to Chicago PD for season 12. Either way, Sigan and the writers have made it very clear that Yara Page will be spearheading the stories that were previously designated for Upton. We're curious to see how the transition goes.