Louvre director recognises jewel theft failures, says she offered to resign

"The Louvre's director has said a terrible failure in security at the iconic Paris museum resulted in last weekend's daylight crown jewel heist, adding that she offered her resignation to France's culture minister, but it was refused. Attempting to explain to the French Senate on Wednesday how thieves made off with an estimated 88 million euros ($102m) in jewels, Laurence des Cars acknowledged that staff did not detect the arrival of the thieves soon enough. list of 3 itemsend of list Today we are experiencing a terrible failure at the Louvre, which I take my share of responsibility in, she told the senators, adding that she submitted her resignation to Culture Minister Rachida Dati. She added that Dati, however, turned down the resignation offer."

"Des Cars said Sunday's heist exposed the museum's shortage of security cameras outside the monument, as well as other weaknesses. She said while the Louvre's alarms were working properly during the heist, some of the museum's cameras are ageing, while the one nearest the thieves' entry point was directed westward and therefore did not cover the balcony involved in the break-in."

"Des Cars said she would push for a police station to be placed inside the museum, while she also suggested that barriers be erected to prevent vehicles from parking directly alongside the buildings. The Louvre which welcomes 30,000 visitors a day reopened on Wednesday, with tourists queueing up to enter the world's largest and most-visited museum for the first time since the audacious daytime heist which stunned the world."

Laurence des Cars said a major security failure allowed a daytime theft of crown jewels from the Louvre, and she offered her resignation to Culture Minister Rachida Dati, who refused it. She acknowledged that staff failed to detect the thieves' arrival soon enough and said the heist exposed a shortage of security cameras and other weaknesses. Alarms functioned properly, but some cameras are ageing and the camera nearest the entry pointed westward and did not cover the balcony used. She proposed adding an on-site police station and erecting barriers to prevent vehicles parking alongside the building. The museum reopened to visitors.

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