The director of the Louvre Museum has announced that new surveillance cameras and anti-intrusion technology will soon be introduced at the Paris institution following last month’s dramatic theft of royal jewels.
Around 100 cameras are expected to be operational by the end of next year, and anti-intrusion systems are due to begin installation within two weeks, Louvre director Laurence des Cars said, reports Breaking News.
Ms des Cars described the equipment as measures designed to keep intruders away from the museum buildings, though she did not go into further detail.
The updated surveillance network aims to provide “complete protection of the museum’s surroundings,” she said, reports Breaking News.
“After the shock, after the emotion, after the assessment, it’s time for action” at the world’s most visited museum, Ms des Cars told the Committee of Cultural Affairs of the National Assembly, reports Breaking News.
She said these steps are part of more than 20 urgent measures to be rolled out, including creating a new “security co-ordinator” role at the museum, a position that has already been advertised.
TheLiberal.ie won’t quit
Please support us with a small donation on PayPal!
On the day of the heist, the thieves managed to break in through a window into the Apollo Gallery in under eight minutes with the help of a freight lift and escape with jewels valued at €88 million (£77.5 million), reports Breaking News.
Ms des Cars revealed new information about the security lapse that made the 19 October robbery possible, saying the tools the thieves used to cut open the cases were concrete disc cutters.
“It’s a method that had not been imagined at all” when the Apollo Gallery display cases were replaced in 2019, she said, reports Breaking News.
At that time, the cases had been designed mainly to withstand an attack from inside the museum involving weapons.
Footage recorded by museum cameras shows that during the raid, the display cases “held up remarkably well and did not break apart,” she said.
“Videos show how difficult it was for the thieves,” she added, reports Breaking News.
Ms des Cars emphasised that improving security is a key pillar of the decade-long “Louvre New Renaissance” initiative launched earlier this year, a project expected to cost up to €800 million (£700 million) and aimed at modernising facilities, relieving congestion and creating a dedicated gallery for the Mona Lisa by 2031.
With the museum strained by high visitor numbers, Ms des Cars has capped the daily attendance at 30,000 in recent years, reports Breaking News.
The iconic glass pyramid, unveiled in 1989, was originally built to accommodate around four million visitors annually, she noted. This year, more than eight million people have already passed through the Louvre.
“The extensive modernisation that the Louvre underwent in the 1980s is now technically obsolete, with equipment that has been overperforming for 40 years,” Ms des Cars said, reports Breaking News.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.
