{"id":258888,"date":"2025-10-29T15:01:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T15:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/258888\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T15:01:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T15:01:10","slug":"paris-police-note-errors-in-louvres-security-after-jewel-theft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/258888\/","title":{"rendered":"Paris police note errors in Louvre\u2019s security after jewel theft"},"content":{"rendered":"

PARIS \u2014 French police acknowledged major gaps in the Louvre\u2019s defenses on Wednesday \u2014 turning\u00a0this month\u2019s dazzling daylight theft<\/a>\u00a0into a national reckoning over how France protects its treasures.<\/p>\n

Paris Police Chief Patrice Faure told Senate lawmakers that aging systems and slow-moving fixes left weak seams in the world\u2019s most-visited museum.<\/p>\n

\u201cA technological step has not been taken,\u201d he said, noting parts of the video network are even still analog, producing lower-quality images that are slow to share in real time.<\/p>\n

French police acknowledged major gaps in the Louvre\u2019s defenses following the recent heist. REUTERS<\/p>\n

Paris Police Chief Patrice Faure said aging systems and slow-moving fixes left security weakened. REUTERS<\/p>\n

The extendable ladder used by three thieves to access one of the upper floors of the museum is seen. Mohammed Badra\/EPA\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

A long-promised revamp \u2014 a $93 million project requiring roughly 60 kilometers (37 miles) of new cabling \u2014 \u201cwill not be finished before 2029\u20132030,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Faure also disclosed that the Louvre\u2019s authorization to operate its security cameras quietly expired in July and wasn\u2019t renewed \u2014 a paperwork lapse that some see as a symbol of broader negligence after thieves forced a window to the Apollo Gallery, cut into cases with power tools and fled with\u00a0eight pieces of the French crown jewels\u00a0within minutes while tourists were inside.<\/p>\n

\u201cOfficers arrived extremely fast,\u201d Faure said, but he added the lag occurred earlier in the chain \u2014 from first detection, to museum security, to the emergency line, to police command.<\/p>\n

Faure and his team said the first alert to police came not from the Louvre\u2019s alarms but from a cyclist outside who dialed the emergency line after seeing helmeted men with a basket lift.<\/p>\n

Suspects\u2019 custody expiring<\/p>\n

Officials say two suspects were arrested<\/a> over the weekend, including one stopped at Charles-de-Gaulle Airport as he tried to leave France. <\/p>\n

Under French rules for organized theft, custody can run up to 96 hours; that limit expires late Wednesday, when prosecutors must charge the suspects, release them, or seek a judge\u2019s extension. <\/p>\n

Louvre\u2019s authorization to operate its security cameras expired in July and wasn\u2019t renewed. REUTERS<\/p>\n

The Louvre values the eight stolen pieces at about $102 million<\/a>. <\/p>\n

None has been confirmed recovered.<\/p>\n

The theft has also exposed an insurance blind spot: officials say the jewels were not privately insured. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The French state self-insures its national museums, because premiums for covering priceless heritage are astronomically high \u2014 meaning the Louvre will receive no payout for the loss. <\/p>\n

The financial blow, like the cultural wound, is total.<\/p>\n

Faure pushed back on quick fixes.<\/p>\n

Two suspects were arrested for the theft of eight stolen pieces estimated to be worth about $102 million. REUTERS<\/p>\n

He rejected calls for a permanent police post inside the palace-museum, warning it would set an unworkable precedent and do little against fast, mobile crews. \u201cI am firmly opposed,\u201d he said. \u201cThe issue is not a guard at a door; it is speeding the chain of alert.\u201d<\/p>\n

He urged lawmakers to authorize tools currently off-limits: AI-based anomaly detection and object tracking (not facial recognition) to flag suspicious movements and follow scooters or gear across city cameras in real time.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The Oct. 19 heist was swift and simple. In the morning rush, thieves reached the jewel gallery near streetside windows, cut through reinforced cases and vanished in minutes<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Former bank robber David Desclos told the AP the operation was textbook and\u00a0vulnerabilities were glaringly obvious\u00a0in the layout of the gallery.<\/p>\n

Museum and culture officials under pressure<\/p>\n

Culture Minister Rachida Dati, under pressure, has stayed defensive \u2014 refusing the Louvre director\u2019s resignation <\/a>and insisting alarms worked while acknowledging \u201csecurity gaps did exist.\u201d <\/p>\n

A woman sits while people queue to enter Le Louvre museum on Monday. AP<\/p>\n

She has kept details to a minimum, citing ongoing investigations.<\/p>\n

The reckoning lands at a museum already under strain. In June,\u00a0the Louvre shut in a spontaneous staff strike\u00a0\u2014 including security agents \u2014 over unmanageable crowds, chronic understaffing and \u201cuntenable\u201d conditions. <\/p>\n

Unions say mass tourism and construction pinch points create blind spots, a vulnerability underscored by thieves who rolled a basket lift to the Seine-facing fa\u00e7ade and reached a hall displaying the crown jewels.<\/p>\n

French\u00a0CRS\u00a0riot police officers stand near the glass Pyramid of the Louvre after suspects in the Louvre heist case were arrested. REUTERS<\/p>\n

Faure said police will now track surveillance-permit deadlines across institutions to prevent repeats of the July lapse. <\/p>\n

But he stressed the larger fix is disruptive and slow: ripping out and rebuilding core systems while the palace stays open, and updating the law so police can act on suspicious movement in real time \u2014 before a scooter disappears into Paris traffic and diamonds into history.<\/p>\n

Experts fear the stolen pieces may already be broken down and stones recut to erase their past \u2014 a prospect that adds urgency to France\u2019s debate over how it guards what the world comes to see.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PARIS \u2014 French police acknowledged major gaps in the Louvre\u2019s defenses on Wednesday \u2014 turning\u00a0this month\u2019s dazzling daylight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,229,88,139906,134802,593,2785,130932,965],"class_list":{"0":"post-258888","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-design","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-heist","14":"tag-jewel-heists","15":"tag-paris","16":"tag-safety","17":"tag-the-louvre","18":"tag-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}