Who Invented The Home Security System? A New Yorker!

These days, home security systems can be very complex and effective, utilizing codes, alarms, and even bioidentification systems to make you feel safe in your own home. Many robberies occur while there is none in place whatsoever, the thief occasionally sauntering into a house from a door left unlocked. Having a security system of some sort is a great way to deter those casual thieves who are looking for an easy score—that’s the reality behind posting those little signs in your window telling outsiders that you have one. But who invented the home security system?

A Long Path To Home Security

Answering the question of who invented the home security system can be either a very long or very short story. You can trace the beginnings of home security hundreds of years back. Some of the earliest forms include moats around castles, deep trenches filled with water that surrounded the main building. If one tried to enter through the water (although swimmers were relatively rare in those days), they would find only smooth stone and would have to return to where they came from.

Another answer to who invented the home security system is the inventor of the portcullis, a cage-like structure that featured pointed tips on the bottom. These would add an extra seal to the structures of castles. Since these were made of metal, they resisted intrusion while still exposing the marauder to attacks from the outside. The inventor of the lock is also a possible answer to the who invented the home security system matter. A lock is surely home security in its simplest form.

Marie Brown, Patent Number 3,482,037

The most definite name when it comes to who invented the home security system? Marie Brown, an African-American inventor. She lived in Jamaica, Queens and drew up the first plans for a home security system that utilized closed circuit television. It may have been Ms. Brown who first engineered the concept of using the burgeoning video technology to identify possible assailants from friends.

Brown’s invention was patented on December 2, 1969. The premise was basic but effective, utilizing a camera on a slide to get a reading on whoever stood outside the door. The lense would look through four peepholes to gather all the necessary information and then relay that to a distant location, a woman’s bedroom in Brown’s plans. The dweller could then choose whether to let them in or not using the remote locking system. You can still see this concept today in closed circuit television systems.