Initial accounts of the break-in claimed that Hernandez set off a motion detector. And an alarm alerted DMA security that someone was in the building.
Dallas Museum of Art security
The 911 call was not reported for 6 months. The museum’s security system was not functioning. And the guards did not hear or respond to the 9:47 p.m. disturbance and vandalism of the museum.
If Hernandez hadn’t called the police on himself, he could have escaped.
Robert Edsel, who founded the Dallas-based Monuments Men and Women Foundation, said, “I’m shocked, and I’m very disappointed. I’m as bothered by the lack of transparency by museum leadership as I am by the revelation about the alarm system not functioning at all.”
DMA issued an updated statement, “As stated in our message to the community in June, we have continued to spend a tremendous amount of time and resources reflecting on and assessing the circumstances surrounding the break-in on June 1.”
“In recognition of the need to take serious action as soon as possible, we committed to hiring a third-party consulting firm at that time to review and assess our security measures and facilities. This decision was made to ensure we rely on industry best practices to deter and mitigate similar situations moving forward,” he added.
