The agents stopped in front of the Louvre and set up a fake crime scene to show their - Thibaut Chevillard

  • Technical and scientific police officers demonstrated in Paris at the call of one of their unions to claim a status similar to that of armed officers.
  • Coming from all over France, they point out the dangerousness of their missions and the arduousness of their work.
  • They want to obtain corresponding status, also allowing them to retire earlier.

The crime scene, delimited by a yellow ribbon, is located in front of the Louvre pyramid. All in turn, the technical and scientific police officers, dressed in white overalls stained with blood and green vests on their backs, lie on the ground next to small studs indicating the presence of clues. Behind them, near an enclosure hanging from a supermarket cart with a tensioner, a man grabs a microphone and resumes "L'envie", a famous song by Johnny Hallyday. “Minister… give us a status! A major statute! For our futuuuur! He sings under the astonished gaze of a few tourists passing by.

Several hundred scientific police officers demonstrate outside the Louvre. "We too are cops, scientific police officers! »Pic.twitter.com/z5iSJD3f4S

- Thibaut Chevillard (@TiboChevillard) January 15, 2020

This Wednesday, several hundred officials from the technical and scientific police demonstrated in Paris to demand a status similar to that of their armed colleagues. "A statute that fully recognizes the complexity, the dangerousness, the specificity of our missions", explains Jonathan, an agent from the Paris region. Some of his colleagues, from all over France, hold signs expressing their demands: "My job is not dangerous, yet I have a bulletproof vest", "I am a cop", "A unique police force, a unique status ”.

"We consider that they are doing a sedentary job"

"The agents have the constraints and the easements of the police officers but they do not have their advantages", explains Georges Knecht, secretary general of Snipat (National union independent of the technical administrative personnel). "They intervene at crime scenes, in attacks to carry out observations on corpses. But they retire at 65 or even 67 years old with 1,300 or 1,400 euros in pension because we consider that they are doing a sedentary job, "similar to secretarial or accounting tasks," he continues. Before adding that the agents, who sometimes operate alone and without weapons "in a hostile environment", "are tired of taking risks and not having compensation".

Technical and scientific police officers demonstrate in Paris - Thibaut Chevillard

The civil servants interviewed by 20 Minutes all allude to the arduous nature of their profession, which also includes numerous periodic penalty payments. "We can finish at 4am and resume at 8am," blows Xavier Depecker, national secretary of Snipat for the scientific police. It highlights in particular the heavy workload of the agents, which wears them out and has repercussions on their private life. "We want a retirement age linked to the arduousness and the dangerousness of the missions that we exercise", indicates the union member.

"I can't imagine a 62-year-old colleague on the ground in the train"

“During the Notre-Dame fire, our colleagues intervened when we were not sure that the building would not collapse. And in Rouen, during the fire at the Lubizol factory, they did not know what they were breathing, ”insists Georges Knecht. Jonathan pleads for a bonus system similar to that enjoyed by the armed police. "Several years worked would give us the right to one year less work," he explains. "Because I can hardly imagine a 62-year-old colleague in the field doing traces and clues on all fours ..."

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  • Society
  • Fire of Notre-Dame de Paris
  • Paris
  • Louvre
  • Police
  • The experts
  • Lubrizol
  • Scientific police