Map of New York City Police Stops Interactive Feature

As mentioned in class, the project idea I had in mind (regarding the stop, question and frisk procedure reform) would require the use of interactive maps, something mentioned in class but which has not yet been explored in depth.  I wonder how realistic it is to believe someone would allow me to build or collaborate with work they have already put a lot into.  I say this because I was inspired by the map idea I had seen in the New York Times, which is linked above.  In a perfect world I could use this map, which includes many statistics broken down by borough and block, and I would build over it using short narratives to humanize the statistics.  In my mind this sounds like what Digital Humanists have been referring to when they say you do not have to know codes, its the idea of building with one another. But again, is this a realistic goal?  Are the people who built this in the know of Digital Humanities principles of collaboration and building?  They may not know about DH but more importantly will they care about the larger goal?  I wonder how someone, like myself, would go about initiating this task, from reaching out to these people, asking to collaborate and making this a reality?