Downey, CA Noise from Specific Sources: Car Alarm Limits (2026)

Chapter 7 of the Downey Municipal Code regulates burglar and robbery alarm systems citywide: anyone operating an alarm business must register with the City License Division and hold a business license (§3703), and anyone possessing an alarm system must first obtain an alarm system permit, issued by the Finance Manager with the Police Chief as approving authority (§§3704, 3708). Permits carry an installation fee for residences and an annual fee for other properties, expiring December 31 each year (§3712). An alarm subscriber who generates more than three false alarms in any 12-month period is maintaining a public nuisance alarm under §3715, and the Chief of Police can suspend the permit under §3717 after the Police Department leaves written notice following a false alarm (§3716); a denied or suspended permit can be appealed to the City Manager within 15 days (§3711).

Section 3705, however, states plainly that 'the provisions of this chapter are not applicable to audible alarms affixed to automobiles,' carving vehicle alarms out of every one of those requirements: no alarm system permit, no business registration, no false-alarm counting toward the three-incident nuisance threshold, and no suspension exposure under this chapter. The exemption reaches only Chapter 7's alarm-system permitting scheme.