To contact Officer Orlov via voicemail call 704-943-2419 or pager at 704-505-1151 or email at this link.

Elizabeth Safety Email Group has been formed to inform and empower residents to talk openly about safety issues in the Elizabeth community that concern them and to work together to keep an eye out for criminal and suspicious behavior. Here's how it works:

If anything criminal or suspicious happens to you or you see something suspicious in our neighborhood – for active crimes call 911and for suspicious behavior call 704-353-1000 and tell the Police. Then when you get a chance, send an email describing the incident and he’ll forward it back out to everyone on the group list. He will also copy our CMPD Community Coordinator, Laura Orlov, our detective, Muriel Reid, and Captain Mike Campagna who heads up our Providence District (and the source of this great email alert idea) so they can be kept up to speed on things happening in our neighborhood. In your email, include the following info:
What happened
Where it happened (Street Address)
When it happened
What specifically was stolen (if applicable).
Was your home or car or whatever was broken into locked or secured? How was it secured? How was it broken into?
Does your home or car have an alarm system? Was it activated?
Did you call the Police? Did they take a report? Have they told you anything?
Do you have any idea what happened? Pawn Shops checked? Landscaping or Construction Crews working in the area? Does it seem like an inside job or just a crime of circumstance?
Anything else you want to add?
Preferably keep the entire email to 50-60 words or less.

Brad Miller, Crime Committee Chairman Elizabeth Community Association

FROM OFFICER RICK GREENE, August 2005
Hello everyone. This is Officer Rick Greene that lives on Morningside Drive. I just wanted to pass on to everyone that over the last week the neighborhood has seen a lot of break-ins. Three homes on Morningside that I know of, including mine was hit Monday (8/1/05). Another one happened on Morningside Drive Tuesday morning.
People in the area have seen 2 B/Ms driving in the area in a U-haul truck over the past two days circling the block and stopping at people's homes. Police that work in this area have advised me of three subjects that they are looking at as possible suspects. They are the same that Community Police Officer Varnum was giving out at the last community meeting. For those of you that were not there the men's names are: Daryl Walker B/M, Eric Bernard Houston B/M, & Timothy Houston B/M.
If you would like pictures of these men you can go to the Sheriff's Department website at www.cmpd.org. Once there type in Inmate Inquiry in the search engine and it will guide you to the Sheriff's web page.
Most of these break-ins are occurring in the middle of the day between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Commonwealth, Green Oaks, Pecan, and Central Avenue have also seen break-ins over the last week. If anyone sees anybody that doesn't belong or any vehicles that are circling the block or sitting in front of homes and don't belong there, don't hesitate to call the police. Believe me it is not a bother to us and the police don't know that there is a problem unless we call them.
Thank you for your time and vigilance.
Rick

FIGHT CRIME TIP
Everyone should take the time to write down the serial numbers of any and every thing of value in their home. It's probably easiest to do this when you first purchase items. When unpacking the new TV or computer from its box, take the time to note the serial numbers. Take those numbers and write them down in a ledger or enter them into a spreadsheet on your home computer. Make a back up copy. If you keep your information on your computer and the computer is stolen, then the list is useless. Provide a copy of the information to a relative or trusted friend. That back up copy can also help you in filing insurance claims in the event of a home fire.

FRIGHT CRIME TIP 2
Doors
All exterior doors should be solid-core, rather than hollow core. Any lock installed in a hollow core door is much less secure. In fact, hollow core doors are more easily lifted off their hinges and are not heavy enough to support the better locks, such as double cylinder deadbolts.
If doors have windowpanes, they should have double cylinder deadbolts. Otherwise, a thief can break the glass, reach in and open the lock and let himself in (Double cylinder deadbolts require a key to open from both sides.)
A wide-angle peephole installed at eye level permits you to see who is outside the door without opening the door. It is much more preferable than a chain lock for this purpose. Strike plates (where the lock fits into the door frame) should be installed with 2 ½" screws to provide maximum security. The extra long screws will penetrate into the 2X4 framing around the door and make it much harder for someone to force the door open.