A Matter of Seconds
French senators heard on Wednesday that security personnel at the Louvre missed intercepting the thieves behind October’s Crown Jewels heist by a margin of just thirty seconds. The revelation came during a hearing before the Senate’s culture commission, which is investigating the administrative inquiry into security at the world’s most visited museum.
Missed Alarms and a “General Failure”
Noël Corbin, director of the General Inspectorate of Cultural Affairs (IGAC), and Pascal Mignerey from the culture ministry’s security mission presented their findings. They confirmed that an external camera successfully filmed the thieves’ arrival, their setup of a platform, their ascent to a balcony, and their rushed departure minutes later. However, the feed was not monitored in real time. By the time a security agent activated the images, “it was already too late as the thieves had left the Apollo Gallery,” according to Corbin.
In his opening remarks, commission chairman Senator Laurent Lafon stated the report pointed to a “general failure of the museum as well as its oversight body in considering security issues” before the robbery. He emphasized the heist was “not a random failure” nor due to “an accumulation of bad luck,” but rather the result of decisions not taken to ensure safety, despite vulnerabilities that had been “all identified by several prior studies with largely consistent results.”
Breakdown in Communication and Institutional Memory
A significant failure in the transmission of security audits within the museum was highlighted, particularly during the 2021 leadership transition to President Laurence des Cars. Symbolizing this lack of institutional memory, a 2019 audit conducted by jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels—which had identified all the weaknesses in the Apollo Gallery—was not brought to the attention of the new management.
Urgent Measures and Ongoing Scrutiny
The hearings occur amid a difficult period for the Louvre, which is also dealing with a closed gallery due to damage and a strike call by staff. Following the heist, Culture Minister Rachida Dati ordered the administrative inquiry, whose preliminary conclusions cited a “chronic underestimation” of risks for “over twenty years” and a security “under-equipment” at the museum. The minister announced urgent measures, including installing anti-intrusion devices on and around the building, which the Louvre’s board has approved.
The Senate commission’s scrutiny of the museum’s security will continue next week. Former Louvre President Jean-Luc Martinez (2013-2021) will be questioned on Tuesday, with his successor, Laurence des Cars, scheduled to appear again on Wednesday.
