Paris police have begun patrolling the Louvre in force following a day-long walk-out by museum staff in protest of aggressive gangs of violent pickpockets. Directeur de l’Office de Tourisme de Paris Paul Roll responded to concerns about museum visitor safety by admitting that the Louvre in particular has been targeted by organized gangs because it is a private institution without regular police security inside.

Museum workers have complained that the groups of pickpockets that have invaded the Louvre and other tourist attractions have become more violent during the past year, even attacking museum guards and other employees. Museum union officials blame authorities for not acting more assertively against these organized gangs.