Crime, data, and the right to know

Here's an interesting trio of stories from our paper revealing an intricate (and rapid -- this all happened pretty quickly!) interaction between public data, government, media, and private enterprise:

They won't talk: Why are Dallas police limiting your ability to search for violent crime data?

http://watchdogblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/03/they-wont-talk-why-are-dallas.html 

Email: City of Dallas instructed vendor to restrict public access to some online police reports

http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/03/email-city-of-dallas-instructe.html

Dallas officials agree to restore public access to online crime data

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/crime/stories/030410dnmetcrimereports.17541e3e4.html