In the past two months, three Demopolis resident have been cited for violating a city ordinance that relies heavily on one’s sense of “personal space.”

The citations for violating the city’s noise ordinance have been issued since spring began, a seasonal trend Demopolis Police Chief Tommie Reese said tends to rise as the weather improves.

“A lot more people are out, so that what normally happens,” he said of the rise in offenders.

According to the ordinance, “any radio, tape recorder, cassette player or other machine or device producing or reproducing sound” that is audible 30 feet from the device is in violation of city policy.

While most of the violations are tied to radios and stereos, Reese said the ordinance actually encompasses noises of all kinds.

“It’s not an anti-radio ordinance,” he said. “It’s a noise ordinance.”

For example, devices generally found on transfer trucks and generally referred to as “Jake breaks” are also in violation.

“It shall be unlawful for the driver of any vehicle to use or operate or cause to be used or operated within the city limits of the city or police jurisdiction, any engine brake, compression brake or mechanical exhaust device designed to aid in the braking or deceleration of any vehicle that results in excessive, loud, unusual, or explosive or unmuffled noise from the vehicle,” the ordinance reads.

“This offensive noise is prohibited except where emergency conditions require the use of those brakes in order to preserve public safety.”

“Those kinds of devices are just loud,” he said. “It’s louder than a radio.”