Over the course of 12 seasons of Chicago P.D., the members of the Intelligence Unit have gone undercover multiple times. This wouldn’t be all that unusual, as cops go undercover to get answers all the time, and Chicago is a big city. The problem is that Intelligence tends to stick to the same neighborhoods in the city, and that raises questions about how the Chicago P.D. characters have been successful.
Criminals tend to have good memories, as they are always on the lookout so that they’re not caught. Considering the Chicago P.D. Intelligence members have gone undercover to deal with large gangs and cartels, after 12 years of the One Chicago series, it is surprising that nobody has been made right away. This is something Chicago P.D. season 13 will need to explain, and there is a quick way that that could happen.
Several Chicago P.D. Characters Have Gone Undercover Multiple Times
The Same Intelligence Members Seem To Be The Ones Going Undercover
There have been many cases that involved a member of the Intelligence Unit going undercover. Kevin Atwater (LaRoyce Hawkins) has been used for a lot of gang-related storylines, while Torres (Benjamin Levy Aguilar) has been used recently for more of the cartel crimes. Burgess (Marina Squerciati) has also had to go undercover to help deal with trafficking cases or to lure out predators.
Some of these undercover missions have been as small moments just to get a quick answer, but there have been times when the cops have been undercover for days or weeks. They have had to infiltrate the gang networks, meeting various people connected to the crimes. And in some cases, they’ve had to go undercover inside a prison, leading to a connection to other police officers or guards.
It’s Hard To Believe No One Has Recognized Any Of The Intelligence Unit From Previous Undercover Ops
Chicago P.D. Keeps Cases In A Small Radius
The cases always seem to take place in the same area, and while this of course due to filming needs, it leads to a lot of questions about how so many operations have been successful and so few covers blown. With the cops sticking to the same hunting ground, it should only be a matter of time before someone recognizes them. One of the reasons they don’t use the same alias is just in case they have been made or run into some of the same people.
If they know the gangs, surely the gangs will know the cops that tend to work in that area.
While Chicago is a big place, the criminal networks tend to be small. After all, Intelligence already seems to know the names of some of the gangs and the territories they cover. If they know the gangs, surely the gangs will know the cops who tend to work in that area. Let’s take the example of Atwater being used for gang-related crimes. While Atwater may not have gone undercover to infiltrate Gang A, if Gang A had an altercation with Gang B and saw Atwater, Gang A should recognize him on the street.
Chicago P.D. Season 13 Can Explain This With A Few Lines Of Dialogue
It’s Time For This To Come Up In An Undercover Mission
Having Intelligence caught during an undercover op because someone recognizes them from the street would make for an interesting storyline. It would show the limitations of undercover ops when they happen in one small part of town, and it could also show just how aware and careful the criminal networks can be. However, this would require some planning, as it would need to take place over more than just one episode to add some weight to the arc.
Another option to explain this in Chicago P.D. season 13 would be to include a couple of lines of dialogue. As there’s a new mission, someone like Burgess could say that they have worked an op there before and they may get noticed, or she could say that she used to work as a traffic cop there. This would then lead to someone else having to take on the operation, showing that Voight (Jason Beghe) does take all of this into account when choosing who will go undercover and where.
