After his parents divorced, David Chaddock didn’t have a stable home environment with his father, who moved him to a series of bad neighborhoods, often leaving him unattended. For several years he spiraled down, ditching school and failing every class until his mother took custody and got him back on track before entering high school. Even then, he bounced from the original Las Vegas High School to Sunrise Mountain, then Horizon, where tutoring helped him stabilize, and finally graduated from Cheyenne High.
Being raised by a single parent meant David learned to be resourceful. He taught himself to install his own car stereo and a few others for friends. That began a lifelong love of technology and a knack for electronics. At age 19, he was hired by ADT Security to install residential and business alarm systems, but after a few years, when he decided not to pursue a move up to management, he felt stuck doing installations.
He and a friend began considering careers in law enforcement for the benefits, security, growth opportunities, and more. They started testing and ultimately got hired by the North Las Vegas Police Department. David wore the badge for 11 years, became a SWAT officer, and during training sessions when he had to talk about his background, he found himself telling his peers about his love of technology. Word got out that he was the audio/visual guy, and coworkers began asking him to install tech in their houses, such as security systems, video cameras, and home theaters.
That side hustle went on for quite a while until he was working seven days a week and feeling burned out. Law enforcement was a demanding job that he enjoyed, but his passion for his second job prompted him to resign from the police department and launch DMC Systems. It was a bold prospect, but he had a lot of support from his colleagues, and he didn’t ever want to regret not taking the leap and becoming a business owner.
David retained a business license and a contractor’s license and brought in his mother, always his biggest cheerleader, as the company’s bookkeeper. He did all the sales, service calls, and everything in between. As the business grew, he soon needed more help. When doing an installation for two detectives, their adult son expressed an interest in the work, and David made his first hire. Seven years later, that employee is still with him.
A few more employees have joined the DMC team since then, and the business has grown 50 percent in the last year alone and has had a very strong start to this year, in line to grow another 50 percent.
Serving the entire valley, David and his team can do large projects and different levels of service for both residential and commercial clients. DMC Systems specializes in smart home automation, including all appliance control, scheduled systems, pool lights and water features, home theaters, garage doors and locks, cameras and camcorders, and burglar and fire alarms with top-notch networking and security. Working with a central station to provide excellent 24/7 monitoring, a professional response is available for fires, break-ins, and other serious events, giving clients peace of mind.
Looking back, he has no regrets about giving up law enforcement to pursue a dream. David still loves technology and electronics, even installations, and is always improving his business management skills. And he’s a firm believer in trusting his gut about which direction to take the company.
He does miss the daily police department briefings, his colleagues, and joking around in the morning and after a shift, but not the politics within the dept. After you learn the ropes and get more tenure, you either work on getting promoted or go on to something else. While on burglary detail, he began investigating robberies and eventually solved 18 crimes, made five arrests, and recovered nearly $15,000 in stolen property. While questioning criminals, he learned how they planned break-ins and what they intended to steal. That information helped him customize the best theft prevention systems.
“When a client hires me as a former police officer who has investigated burglaries, they know I can give them the best advice about how to prevent an incident in their own home,” said David. “We provide state-of-the-art equipment, good quality installations, and good value for their money. That’s what helped the business grow.”
His passion for surround sound is in every home theater he creates. It became clear that he needed to expand his business into that arena after customers who purchased home security systems began asking for it. When you love electronics as much as David does, you can’t help but talk about the newest innovations available for residential and commercial improvements. Clients responded by helping him grow the business throughout the home, including indoor and outdoor lighting and smart home automation.
Most of the business growth has been in audio/visual with surround sound systems running anywhere from $1,000 to $100,000. David counts many celebrities on the Strip as clients and a small commercial chain of strip mall casinos with more than 20 locations. And, of course, he still gets calls from his friends in the police department.
"When a client hires me as a former police officer who has investigated burglaries, they know I can give them the best advice about how to prevent an incident in their own home."
