About the Polish contributions to lip print identification and the need for synergy in forensic research

Dear editor in Chief,

In an article published in 2023, Bécue and Champod presented an Interpol review of fingermarks and other body impressions between 2019 and 2022 [1]. In that review, they introduce a section “Other body marks” in which they include the topic cheiloscopy/lip marks/lip prints, all different names that have been given to the same form of personal identification based on the comparison of labial pattern grooves. The authors cite our critical review on the subject [2] describing our work as “without compromise,” and also shared our analysis that the uniqueness given to this type of trace has not yet been demonstrated under current scientific standards to stop guesswork and speculation. First, the Chilean team would like to thank them for their generous appreciation of our contribution.

Second, and the reason for this letter, we want to offer more information on lip-print identification, particularly Poland's contributions to the topic. In this article, we defined Poland as “the last Bastion of practical cheiloscopy,” considering that it is probably the only country that, since the 1980s, has shown signs of moving forward with lip print research, including the necessary testing in actual field conditions and not just in a laboratory [2]. However, we also mentioned that these contributions “have not yet been sufficiently visible or reported”, which is why we decided to delve deeper into the probable causes of this problem.

Owing to the enhancement of connectivity during the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors of this letter were able to make virtual contact in 2020 and meet in person in 2022 in Olsztyn (Poland) in September 2022. With this meeting, we were able to confirm some of the assumptions that had already been raised in our 2019 review: lip print identification has been conducted regularly, continuously, and has always improved this kind of evidence on a scientific, technical, and juridical basis in Poland for almost 40 years. However, the original publication of those contributions in the Polish language (which could also include the Polish political situation before and after the fall of the Iron Curtain), the absence of Polish publications from the most relevant editorial channels, or simply the lack of cooperation between countries and experts, have led to the invisibility of the advanced technical bases of Polish cheiloscopy and to a probable ban on lip print identification along with the necessary research to ensure its foundations. These and other conclusions have been reported by the authors in a recent publication [3], in which we draw attention to possible biases in access to much of the information currently accessible to the subject. The authors still agree with what Bécue and Champod emphasizes [1], but we want to add that we also believe that “a new look at the Polish contribution to lip print identification is necessary to reinsert this topic into the current discussion of a new identification paradigm” [3].

The Cambridge Dictionary defines “synergy” as “the combined power of a group of things when they are working together that is greater than the total power achieved by each working separately,” with countless ways to improve performance. The authors deeply believe that forensic sciences in general, and lip print identification in particular, need more effort and synergy between academics, researchers, and technicians, beyond national borders, language, or resources, if we want to solve old-world problems and move forward to solve new problems.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Gabriel M. Fonseca: Conceptualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Jerzy Kasprzak: Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.