Chopper chases: I can sleep through just about anything, and last Friday night was no exception, but a bunch of Camden friends and semi-neighbors were abuzz about the Elk Grove Police Department's latest post-midnight manhunt.

Former Bee colleague Ron Wenig posed the oft-asked question in an e-mail: What's policy "in regards to those loud circling helicopters that scare the bejesus out of everyone in the wee hours of the morning?"

"We folks have no idea who they are chasing and if we are about to get a visit from a crazed gun-wielding serial killer. Both my wife and I, plus a number of neighbors, were up for hours worried and waiting for the chopper to fly off."

Turns out this time, said EG police spokesman Chris Trim, that it was three teen- agers who had stolen one car and tried to steal another. With the help of the chopper and a canine unit, the juveniles were caught and arrested; nobody was hurt.

But at the beginning of such incidents, Chris said, the cops also have no idea who they are chasing.

"Anybody who runs from the police might be … somebody who just committed an armed robbery," he said. "Lots of time, a stolen vehicle turns out to be driven by a parolee with guns or dope in the car."

That's when Elk Grove, which doesn't have a helicopter, calls in a local agency that has one.

"They have their own protocols for getting information out," he said. "The concern is safety, and they don't want people in their backyards running into whoever is trying to get away."

Better to be safe, if annoying, than sorry, I guess.

It's much the same with the other frequently asked question about EG police – what's with traffic stops that attract three or four patrol cars?

"We have single-officer patrol cars, and we want to make sure the officer is safe," Chris said. "If there are four people in a vehicle, we might ask several cars for backup. … Everybody kinds of checks in on each other."