The Pennsylvania State Police have announced their new duty pistol. Going forward, the state law enforcement body will use the Walther PDP platform, and each new pistol will be set up to mount a red dot sight.

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The announcement, at this point, was just a formality. When the bidding process was opened back in 2023, Walther was the only company invited to bid. Last year, the police force said “the only firearm that will be accepted for this bid are the Walther PDP 4.5” barrel compact grip and Walther PDP F-Series 4” barrel; and the only Red Dot Optic that will accepted for this bid is the Aimpoint Acro P2.”

And that’s what happened. The staties didn’t run through the tortured firearms selection programs that often drag on when governments get involved (for a laugh, check out the misery of the Canadian military’s current pistol procurement program). Only a few months later, the i’s are dotted and the t’s crossed, and the Keystone State’s 4700-strong law enforcement force will be switching to the new PDP platform in the coming months.

But then, the Pennsylvania State Police have had quick turnarounds before. Once they switched from revolvers to autoloaders in the mid-1990s, they changed their issue pistol several times, due to a combination of durability concerns, safety issues, a desire for improved stopping power and what can probably be seen as falling victim to salesmen. They’ve run Glock, SIG Sauer and Beretta pistols in the past couple of decades.

The new PDP Compact and PDP F-series duty pistols are chambered in 9x19mm and come set up for the Aimpoint Acro P2, as the tender specified. Walther’s SuperTerrain slide serrations are standard, along with the Performance Duty Trigger.

Of course, TFB has run many reviews of the various versions of the PDP platform, including our recent write-up on the PDP Match. See our review of the original 2021-release PDP Compact here. Presumably, the State Police’s pistols will be in roughly the same configuration, with 15-round magazines for Compact models and 18-round magazines for standard-sized pistols.

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