Interpol soon may be looking for more help from the public.

Calls for assistance helped find two suspected pedophiles, and the organization’s chief said Friday it may turn to the public again to locate a leader of a network of jewel thieves.

“There is one guy who is one of the ring leaders if you will, who we’re considering using it on,” Interpol Secretary-General Ronald Noble said in Tokyo. He spoke to The Associated Press after addressing justice and home affairs ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations.

The global crime fighting body, which links police forces from 186 countries, has long preferred to work behind the scenes. However, it is now actively seeking help from the public.

“We have a public relations strategy now that looks at the media as a potential partner,” Noble said.

He said the new approach has led to more media coverage of the agency in the last four years than it had in all of its earlier history. The publicity, and an increased presence on the Internet, is partially aimed at enlisting the help of citizens to find criminals.

Interpol’s test case was last year, when it publicized photos of a suspected pedophile. After intense media coverage, Interpol received its first tip in 14 hours and the Canadian suspect was arrested in Thailand 11 days after the initial appeal. Another suspected pedophile was arrested in the United States just two days after Interpol made a similar appeal this year.

Noble said Interpol may use a similar tactic to locate a member of the ring of thieves he called the “Pink Panthers” _ a network he blamed for 90 robberies in 19 countries that netted more than $150 million in goods.

But he stressed the agency would limit the tactic to “rare, exceptional cases” that couldn’t be solved by traditional means.