Why are these gendarmerie road checks in Lot-et-Garonne so original?

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There are numerous road checks in Lot-et-Garonne. Five points were distributed around Tonneins Thursday October 31, 2024. 18 gendarmes were taking part in a major road safety operation.

Particularity: the device was only composed of reservists.

What is a reservist?

On the department, there are 280 of them and they make up the CIRT (territorial reserve intervention company) under the authority of Commander Barutti. Retired police officerout of passion, he decided to join the gendarmerie reserve. They carry out special missions, at the request of the public prosecutor, in partnership with local companies.

The reserve is made up of retired gendarmes but also people from civil society.

For half of the missions, this involves prevention proximity, “but we can also be called on specific missions like when there were a lot of GPS thefts” explains the commandant.

Thus, reservists patrolled specific areas“it relieves the police teams”.

Anyone can become a reservist, “recruitments are regularly organized. You must follow a formation and be in good physical condition,” explains Commander Barutti.

A resource for the gendarmerie group essential for several reasons:

They are integrated into the population, two thirds come from elsewhere in civil society. In addition, they exclusively carry out presence missions on public roads and are therefore visible.

Police officer, in their free time

In life, he is a student in Agen, in the first year of law. Maël is 18 years old and in his free timewhen a mission is scheduled, he puts on his police uniform.

Reservist since winter 2024, the young man is a brigadierhe participated in the operation carried out on Thursday October 31… out of passion.

He was thus able to go to the Paris Olympics, “we did a lot of traffic management” explains the man who also participated in screening during the opening ceremony.

“My father has been a reservist for a long time so I have always heard about it. My big brother is also a reservist, it’s the logical next step,” explains Brigadier Maël Hidour, reservist gendarme.

“The women and men in blue at the side of the roads have always fascinated me

His destiny is all mapped out, Maël Hidour intends to pursue a career in the gendarmerie.

On the other side of the crossroads, Andréa. Hearing aid specialist during the week, reserve police officer in his free time“out of love for France. And also when we see how the police are being treated at the moment…”

Assessment of this special operation

It is quite rare for an operation of this scale to be composed only of reservists. The device mounted and piloted by Commander Buratti made it possible at the five checkpoints around Tonneins to note several infractions:

• Two seat belt defects
• Excessive speed
• Five white line crossings
• A smooth tire
• Five non-mutations of registration documents
• Three insurance defects
• Failure to respect a stop sign
• Lack of driving license

This type of operation could multiply. Because, when reservists – at the request of the prosecutor – are deployed, active gendarmes can concentrate on other missions.

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