France's Louvre installed large metal bars on gallery windows that were broken into by thieves in October.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The Louvre is due to undergo a multimillion-dollar security overhaul next year following a brazen robbery in October. Meanwhile, officials resorted to a rather low-tech solution. Here's NPR's Eleanor Beardsley in Paris.
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: I came to see the newest security feature the Louvre unveiled this week: bars on the windows that were broken into by thieves in October. And that's impressive. It's more than bars. They literally placed a massive black iron gate over these two windows.
But securing the 400-room former royal palace will require more than that. Thieves stole more than $100 million worth of French royal jewels. Eight suspects have been identified and some are in custody, although the jewelry has still not been found. The brazen daylight robbery shocked France and exposed shocking security lapses at the Louvre. As it turned out, the camera watching these windows was facing the other way. Therefore, he did not stop the truck parked right next to the museum wall and the people who were climbing the electric ladder to the second floor balcony, saving precious minutes of reaction time of the authorities.
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LAURENCE DE CARS: (speaking non-English).
BEARDSLEY: Speaking in a tense two-hour session before the French Senate, Louvre director Laurence de Cars admitted they didn't notice the thieves arriving early enough. She said museum security has put more emphasis in recent years on protecting art from paint-throwing activists. President Emmanuel Macron announced a $580 million renovation plan for the Louvre that includes more than $90 million to renovate security command centers.
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BEARDSLEY: A mobile police unit is now patrolling the roundabout in front of the Louvre's famous glass pyramid. There are plans to install another hundred cameras around the museum.
STANISLAS PONS: (speaking non-English).
BEARDSLEY: Parisian Stanislas Ponce (phone) walks near the Louvre at Christmas. He often visits the museum and admits that there is not much security there. However, according to him, no one expected such a robbery.
PONS: (speaking non-English).
BEARDSLEY: But keeping the Louvre safe is important, Ponce says. “Iron bars, cameras, everything you need,” he says. “It is the most visited museum in the world and one of France’s treasures.”
Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Paris.
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