Paris police acknowledge major gaps in Louvre’s defenses after jewel theft

PARIS — French police acknowledged major gaps in the Louvre’s defenses on Wednesday — turning this month’s dazzling daylight theft into a national reckoning over how France protects its treasures.

Paris Police Chief Patrice Faure told Senate lawmakers that aging systems and slow-moving fixes left weak seams in the world’s most-visited museum.

“A technological step has not been taken,” he said, noting parts of the video network are even still analog, producing lower-quality images that are slow to share in real time.

A long-promised revamp — a $93 million project requiring roughly 60 kilometers of new cabling — “will not be finished before 2029–2030,” he said.

Faure also disclosed that the Louvre’s authorization to operate its security cameras quietly expired in July and wasn’t renewed