An alumnus of the French Air Force Academy (EA85), of the National Gendarmerie Academy (1988), graduate in law from the Université de Paris XI, holder of a diploma in odontological identification from the Université de Nancy, a diploma of advanced studies (1997) and a doctorate (2006) in forensic science from the École des sciences criminelles, Institut de police scientifique et de criminologie de Lausanne (Switzerland), and a diploma from the Collège interarmées de défense (École de guerre) (2004), Colonel Crispino joined the academic profession in 2012 after 29 years in the army, including 25 years in the national gendarmerie.
Assigned in 1993 to the Institut de recherche criminelle de la gendarmerie nationale (IRCGN) to create the new Anthropology Department, in charge of the identification of human remains, he participated in the genesis of the Disaster Victim Identification Unit, the foundation of the French DVI. In 1997, he took command of the Fingerprints Department.
European project manager, then scientific advisor of the European Special Advisor on Counter-Terrorism in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (EUSAO) from 1999 to 2002, he designed, set-up and participated in the training of anti-terrorism forensic capabilities for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza and Ramallah. Both entities created were destroyed by Tsahal in December 2001 and April 2002 during the second Intifada.
In France, he was the deputy head of the counter-terrorism office at the Direction générale de la gendarmerie nationale from 2004 to 2007, between two commands of Criminal Investigation Departments in Bourges (2002-2003) and Bordeaux (2007-2011) in charge of investigating major crimes, organized crime, financial crime, environmental and public health offences, and terrorism. He ended his military career as a project manager for the Division General, Director of the Pôle judiciaire de la gendarmerie nationale, in charge of designing its operation, bringing together under the same command the IRCGN and the Centre national de renseignement criminel.
He is the author, editor or co-author of 4 books, 24 book chapters, more than 60 peer-reviewed publications and more than a hundred presentations worldwide. He is one of the co-authors of the Sydney Declaration (2022), redefining forensic science and its fundamental principles. His fundamental personal research focuses on the ontological uncertainty of the trace and its interpretation in a forensic semiotics to be created.
His CV is available on the website of the UQTR’s Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Physics, under the tab Team/Faculty, or upon request at frank.crispino@uqtr.ca.
