Staff writer

A Canadian software developer is visiting Japan to demonstrate software that North American law enforcement officers are apparently hailing as a breakthrough crime fighting tool.

Sylvia Lariviere, vice president of InterQuest Inc. of Quebec, says FACES: The Ultimate Composite Picture Software, which contains nearly 4,000 facial features including eyes, eyebrows, chins and hair, allows users to easily and quickly create photo-like composites of crime suspects.

The software is easy to use and can create billions of different faces for men and women of any race within minutes.

InterQuest sent 45,000 CD-ROMs free of charge to police departments across the United States and experts throughout the world.

A composite of a suspect created by FACES first appeared last November on America's Most Wanted, a popular TV show, which successfully led to an immediate arrest of a child rapist after the show, Lariviere said.

The software, sold in North American markets for about $50, requires no special computer skills. With the software, victims and eyewitnesses of crimes can help identify suspects before their memories fade, she said.

Software such as FACES would help the general public become more involved in fighting crime, she said. Now, the company is working on an updated version to include more Asian facial features, Lariviere said.

Alan J. Pratt, president of an anticrime volunteer organization called Crime Stoppers International Inc. who is visiting Japan along with Lariviere, also stressed the importance of information from the public in nailing criminals and said the software will help cooperation between law-enforcement authorities and local communities.

Lariviere and Pratt said they plan to visit officials of the Metropolitan Police Department today.