PARIS (AP) — French police on Wednesday acknowledged major flaws in the Louvre’s defenses and reversed course. This month’s dazzling sunlight theft There is a growing national reputation for how France protects its treasures.
Paris police chief Patrice Faure told senators that aging systems and slow fixes left the world’s most-visited museum vulnerable.
“No technological steps have been taken,” he said, noting that some video networks are still analog, producing low-quality images that are slow to share in real time.
He said the long-promised upgrade, a $93 million project requiring around 60 kilometers (37 miles) of new cable, “will not be completed before 2029-2030.”
Fauré also revealed that the Louvre’s permit to operate surveillance cameras secretly expired in July and was not renewed. Some see the clerical failure as a symbol of broader negligence after thieves broke open windows at the Apollo Museum, broke into cases with power tools and fled with guns. 8 jewels in France’s crown within minutes while tourists were inside.
“Officers arrived very quickly,” Faure said, but added there were delays early on in the process, from the initial discovery to museum security, emergency lines and police command.
Fauré and his team said the first alert to police did not come from the Louvre’s alarm system, but from a cyclist who spotted a helmeted man outside riding a basket lift and called 911.
Suspect’s detention period expires
Officials said two suspects were arrested over the weekend, including one who was stopped at Charles de Gaulle airport while attempting to leave France. Under French organized theft rules, detention can last up to 96 hours. The restrictions expire late Wednesday, and prosecutors must seek a judge’s extension to indict or release suspects. The Louvre estimates the value of the eight stolen items at approximately $102 million. Recoveries have not been confirmed.
The theft also exposed insurance blind spots. Officials said the jewelry was not covered by private insurance. France self-insures its national museums, but this means the Louvre will not be compensated for its losses because insurance premiums to cover priceless heritage sites are astronomically high. The economic damage is as great as the cultural damage.
Mr. Faure insisted on first aid. He rejected calls to establish a permanent police station within the palace museum, warning that it would only set an unworkable precedent and would have little effect on quickly mobilized personnel. “I am firmly against it,” he said. “The problem is not the guard at the door, it’s the speeding up of the chain of caution.”
He urged lawmakers to authorize tools that are currently off-limits: AI-based anomaly detection and object tracking (not facial recognition) to flag suspicious movement and track scooters and gear in real time across city cameras.
The Oct. 19 robbery was quick and simple. During the morning rush, the thieves reached the jewelry gallery near a street-side window, broke through the reinforced case, and were gone within minutes. Former bank robber David Descro told The Associated Press that the operation was textbook. The vulnerability was clearly evident. In the gallery layout.
Museums and cultural workers under pressure
Under pressure, Culture Minister Rashida Dati refused to let the Louvre director resign and remained on the defensive, admitting that “there were security gaps” but insisting the alarms worked. She kept details to a minimum, citing the ongoing investigation.
That reckoning falls on a museum where tensions are already high. In June, Louvre museum closed due to spontaneous staff strike over unmanageable crowds, chronic understaffing, and “untenable” conditions, including security personnel. Unions say mass tourism and construction pinch points have created blind spots, vulnerabilities highlighted by thieves who rolled a basket lift up to the Seine-facing façade and reached the hall where the Crown Jewels are displayed.
Faure said police will now track surveillance permit deadlines across agencies to prevent a repeat of the July expiry. But he stressed that large-scale fixes would be disruptive and time-consuming. Before the scooters disappear into Parisian traffic and become history, the core systems should be removed and rebuilt while the palace is open, and the law changed to allow police to respond to suspicious movements in real time.
Experts fear that the stolen pieces have already been disassembled and the stones recut to erase their past. The prospect adds urgency to France’s debate about how to protect what the world sees.
