Ten media organizations are joining forces today to try to gain access to information about recent Toronto police raids.

The companies want the search warrants used in the raids unsealed to find out whether there is any connection to an alleged video of Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine.

One of the homes raided is a suspected drug site where the mayor posed for a now-infamous photo with three men. Two of the men were arrested in those raids. A third was shot dead earlier this year.

Lawyer Peter Jacobson says he will ask a judge to unseal the warrants so that the public can find out for themselves whether there is a connection between the raids and Toronto’s mayor.

He says there are enough connections to Ford that it’s in the public’s interest to find out more about the investigation. He adds that Toronto residents have a right to know if their mayor has been associating with criminals.

The crown will ask that the case be put on hold for six months. And it wants the judge to order that its reasons for the hold be kept a secret.