By: Joe Strupp Buffalo, N.Y., Mayor Byron W. Brown on Thursday ordered police to reinstate media access to crime information that had been removed from police computers in recent months, The Buffalo News reported Friday.
"The mayor said he had been unaware the information had been suppressed, and he blamed the policy change on 'miscommunication' caused by a 'poorly worded memo,'? The News reported.
The News added that Brown had discussed the issue in January with representatives of the paper and that "those talks produced an agreement about what crime data police would provide."
?It was implemented, and somehow it was changed without me being told,? Brown told the paper Thursday, adding that the change hit him ?out of left field.?
"Basic crime information ? including the location of many incidents ? was recently removed from the police computer to which the media have access," the paper explained. "Brown said that a member of the Police Department, not at the highest level, had made a decision that he is now overriding. He did not identify the individual."
Brown also said that more police officials would be made available to the media for comment and information, the News reported.
?The mayor is doing the right thing here,? Buffalo News Editor Margaret Sullivan said in the story.
Sullivan would not speculate about whether criticism of Brown spurred the policy change. ?I see no reason to analyze that,? Sullivan said in the paper. ?The important thing is that the public is going to have the information it needs.?
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