France’s race to protect the Louvre

{"text":[[{"start":6.79,"text":"Securing the Palais du Louvre is a gargantuan challenge. The Paris museum has 70,000 square metres of exhibition space and 30,000 works of art on display, from Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa to the Greek statue of the Venus de Milo."}],[{"start":23.48,"text":"Last Sunday’s extraordinary daylight heist has thrown the Louvre into crisis, exposing the frailties of the world’s largest museum and glaring security gaps."}],[{"start":34.82,"text":"Using a lift mounted on a parked truck to reach a first-floor window, the thieves broke into the gallery and cut through two display cases with angle grinders to steal eight pieces of jewellery worn by 19th century queens."}],[{"start":51.15,"text":"“I’m not at all going to shy away from this or to be in denial. Despite our efforts, despite our hard work every day, we have failed,” museum director Laurence des Cars admitted during a marathon session in the French Senate on Wednesday."}],[{"start":66.98,"text":"The Louvre reopened this week with the royal jewels still missing, as officials now face a daunting task: to reassure the public they can protect the rest of the exhibits from future raids."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":80.17,"text":"Both France’s culture minister Rachida Dati and des Cars said security protocols had functioned properly: alarms went off when the windows were broken and the case containing the jewellery was smashed; museum staff quickly alerted police and employees safely evacuated the thousands of people within minutes. "}],[{"start":102.5,"text":"But the successful heist highlighted the limitations of these measures, drawing criticism of the museum’s leadership."}],[{"start":112.24,"text":"Unions pointed quickly to cuts to staffing: in the past 10 years, surveillance and reception staff levels have dropped by 14 per cent, according to figures provided by the Sud-Culture union, which are disputed by the museum."}],[{"start":127.72999999999999,"text":"Elise Muller, a Sud-Culture representative and security worker for the Louvre since 1995, told the Financial Times that “more recruitment is indispensable” and called for the right conclusions to be drawn from the incident, including “how we manage the outskirts of the Louvre and the public route”."}],[{"start":147.56,"text":"While staffing has stalled, there are also signs technological solutions have not been reinforced sufficiently. A leaked report from the Cour des Comptes, France’s state auditor, found there had been “persistent delays” in updating security measures from 2019 to 2024, although this was rejected by des Cars."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":171.49,"text":"In two wings, about two-thirds of the rooms are unprotected by surveillance cameras, the leaked report found, details of which were confirmed by one person familiar with it."}],[{"start":182.88,"text":"But while updates may be needed, some challenged the idea that more surveillance staff — whose responsibilities focus on shepherding visitors and preventing them from damaging the works — or new cameras would tackle burglaries. "}],[{"start":197.72,"text":"“A surveillance camera isn’t going to descend from its socket to arrest people with a chainsaw,” said Eric Delbecque, a security expert and former safety director of Charlie Hebdo after the 2015 terrorist attack against the satirical magazine. "}],[{"start":214.7,"text":"Des Cars, whose resignation has been rejected by Dati, sketched out measures to protect the museum from future intrusions in her Senate hearing."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":224.78,"text":"She suggested the installation of a permanent police presence within the Louvre, which already has an outpost for fire services, and greater security on the outskirts of the museum. "}],[{"start":236.87,"text":"She admitted that insufficient cameras outside the Louvre was a “weakness” and they had not spotted the truck used by the criminals sufficiently in advance. Exterior cameras are old, she added, and the sole exterior camera near the Galerie d’Apollon did not cover the balcony where the burglars entered. "}],[{"start":256.1,"text":"However, Aurélie Filippetti, a former culture minister under President François Hollande told the FT it was “ridiculous” to suggest a police station within the museum, noting the high presence of police nearby. “This is the most policed arrondissement in Paris,” she added. “Are we going to install a police station in a hospital or a school where there’s an attack?”"}],[{"start":281.78000000000003,"text":"Alexis Fritche, a union leader with CFDT-Culture, suggested placing more agents near “sensitive” works and relocating high-value, portable items to more secure locations. “If an Egyptian sarcophagus had been in that room they would have had more trouble getting it out the window”, he added."}],[{"start":300.07000000000005,"text":"Delbecque, who has worked with the Louvre’s teams, said French cultural institutions did not have a culture of prioritising security. He said the idea of a police station had previously been rejected."}],[{"start":314.31000000000006,"text":"“Neither French leaders nor high-ranking officials have taken the problem of security seriously,” he said. "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":321.34000000000003,"text":"Museums have also been kept busy tackling other threats, beyond organised criminals attempting to steal the works."}],[{"start":329.28000000000003,"text":"A more recent threat has come from environmental protesters throwing paint or soup at masterpieces, des Cars said. The Louvre also faces challenges linked to its ageing plumbing system, which has led to a string of leaks in recent years. Des Cars laid out concerns with the building in a letter to President Emmanuel Macron earlier this year."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":351.28000000000003,"text":"There are now signs of belated action to focus more on security. Macron has called for an “acceleration of security measures”, while Dati and her ministry have led meetings with Louvre staff to seize control of the problem. In an email to culture ministry staff seen by the FT, she said she had ordered a report to “bring to light all the circumstances of the theft by mid-November”."}],[{"start":378.47,"text":"The government has also called for reviews of security measures at other museums across France, after recent burglaries at the Natural History Museum and a porcelain museum in Limoges."}],[{"start":390.72,"text":"The break-in also raises questions for Macron’s grand €800mn plans to renovate the museum. When the project Louvre Nouvelle Renaissance was announced earlier this year, the president made few references to security, although Dati and des Cars have insisted that measures will feature prominently in the makeover.  "}],[{"start":412.35,"text":"Filippetti said Macron’s “pharaonic” plans to install a new gallery space for the Mona Lisa and a separate eastern entrance should be deprioritised, in order to focus on “basic” renovation and security needs for a building whose last major makeover was 40 years ago. "}],[{"start":430.84000000000003,"text":"As the postmortem of Sunday’s burglary continues, visitors have returned to the gilded halls of the Louvre. It will continue welcoming thousands of daily visitors while Des Cars and her teams analyse the very real threat of more burglaries."}],[{"start":447.69000000000005,"text":"“Museums will never be fortresses,” she said. “They are, by their nature, open.”"}],[{"start":459.87,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1761265170_8364.mp3"}