The director of the Louvre, Laurence des Cars, has admitted that the museum’s video surveillance systems were not good enough to catch the jewel thieves who managed to escape with 88 million euros worth of jewelry, the BBC reports.
Speaking publicly for the first time about the heist of the 19th of October, the director told members of the French parliament that the video surveillance system around the museum was weak and outdated. The only camera, located on the wall of the museum through which the thieves entered the Apollo gallery, was facing away from the balcony used to enter the gallery. She added that the museum had failed to protect the jewels and that no one was safe from brutal criminals.
Ministers have so far denied security flaws in press conferences, but des Cars said there were, and admitted that the Louvre had been defeated. Her remarks provided an insight into the difficulties facing the security of the world’s most visited museum, shedding light on a very bad situation. In some areas around the museum, the video surveillance system is so outdated that it cannot be integrated with the latest technology. Despite the huge number of visitors (8.7 million last year alone), investment in the museum’s security has been slow and faces budgetary challenges.
Des Cars, who became the museum’s director in 2021, said
she wanted to double the number of surveillance cameras and had warned about the equipment’s shortcomings
when she took office.
Some of the parliamentarians asked why there was only one video surveillance camera on a particular wall of the museum, and that it was also facing the wrong direction. This is what allowed the robbers to enter the gallery unhindered. Des Cars replied that this was a shortcoming, and she fully acknowledged it.
The museum director praised the security guards who evacuated the museum as soon as they learned of the break-in, but admitted that the robbers’ arrival was not noticed quickly enough.
The museum reopened on the 22nd of October, but the Apollo Gallery is closed to visitors.
When the robbers fled, they left behind Empress Eugenie’s crown, which was damaged after the incident. Des Cars indicated that an initial assessment shows that the crown can be restored.
Des Cars also informed that she had submitted her resignation after the robbery, but the Ministry of Culture rejected it. The museum director told parliamentarians that she had been speaking out about the state of the Louvre’s security system for some time and was hurt that her words had not been taken into account and had led to this situation.
Read also: Louvre heist echoes: how Lithuanian museums protect collections