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Interpol Dragnet Tapping YouTube Generation

The camera work is not perfect and the footage a little grainy, but the Toronto policewoman looks straight into the camera and immediately asks for help. She wants the public to help her catch a man wanted for a vicious sexual assault, which she details right down to his black puffy jacket, as a police sketch of his stocky unsmiling face appears on the screen.

It’s a move that marries hugely popular online social networking with old-fashioned police work: the footage is on the world’s biggest video sharing site YouTube, a few clicks away from Beyonce’s latest music video. The aim is to tap into the massive community that can’t go a day without logging on to chat, sharing information and soaking up online multimedia. And the global police agency Interpol has taken note.