Nîmes: Pascal Sperandio, a figure of the gendarmerie and specialist in crime scenes, bows out

Pascal Sperandio and Colonel Emmanuel Casso who commands the Gard gendarmerie group. HOCINE ROUAGDIA

Colonel Eric Painset, Laurent, Pascal Sperandio's colleague, another Tic. HOCINE ROUAGDIA

The team of the UMJ of Nîmes, the ballistics expert, surround Pascal Sperandio. HOCINE ROUAGDIA

Foule des grands jours pour saluer le départ à la retraite de Pascal Sperandio. HOCINE ROUAGDIA

Pascal Sperandio a exercé 23 ans à Nîmes comme technicien en identification criminelle (Tic). Derrière ce métier, se cachent des scènes de crime et des enquêtes parfois complexes.

Humor and solemnity marked the ceremony marking the departure of a figure of the gendarmerie this Thursday evening. Pascal Sperandio has indeed taken his bow. But this criminal identification technician did not fail to deliver a speech of rare frankness about his job and his career. Alongside Colonel Emmanuel Casso, this crime scene specialist who exercises one of the hardest jobs in the gendarmerie retraced the main points of his career as a ICT. Behind this acronym lies an extreme profession of the gendarmerie since these technicians are the first to be sent to a crime scene to freeze the scene in terms of investigations.

“It is truly a pillar of the gendarmerie's criminal investigations”

The ICTs of the Gard gendarmerie group take photos, take fingerprints, take DNA samples, in short, they seize anything that could be useful to an investigation. And it goes without saying that their crime scene science allows magistrates or investigators from other gendarmerie services (BR, SR) to obtain valuable information on the meaning of objects found (especially weapons), the meaning of blood stains. In short, the ICTs are experts in forensics and can make corpses talk with the support of forensic experts or ballistics experts. In this regard, Doctor Benslima, the head of the forensic medicine unit in Nîmes and Alain Artuso, a ballistics expert, were keen to pay tribute to this figure of criminal identification technicians. In the same way, the packed room where the ceremony was held shows how much Pascal Sperandio was appreciated by his colleagues, some of whom came from far away to pay tribute to him. Some for his human qualities, others for his high level of qualification and expertise. “He is truly a pillar of the gendarmerie's criminal investigations,” it was noted on the sidelines of the festivities this Thursday evening.

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