Elrick graduated from Michigan State University in 1990 with a Bachelor of Journalism degree.
His work has appeared in The New York Times, Newsday, Investigative Reporters and Editors Journal, Salon.com, Rollingstone.com, the National Law Journal, Chicago Magazine and Hour Detroit magazine.
[3] With the Detroit Free Press Elrick was one member of a team that covered Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and uncovered the scandals that led to his 2008 resignation from office and criminal conviction.
[4] Elrick and other reporters filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit that was heard by the Michigan Supreme Court.
[5] The Detroit Free Press staff, which notably included contributors Elrick and Jim Schaefer, shared the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, which cited the staff's "uncovering of a pattern of lies by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick that included denial of a sexual relationship with his female chief of staff, prompting an investigation of perjury that eventually led to jail terms for the two officials.