Pain compliance

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pain compliance is a law enforcement technique that uses the application of pain to control a person, generally to assist with taking that person into custody. Pain may be applied with a pain compliance hold or an electroshock weapon such as a Taser.

Frequently used by police and corrections personnel in accordance with an "escalation of force" policy, such techniques presume a rational adversary. Some altered states such as mental illness, phencyclidine and amphetamine use, or extreme adrenaline may alter the subject's perception of pain or willingness to submit. Like other forms of non-lethal force, such pain compliance strategies are not perfect and may be abused as a form of torture, with plausible deniability. For this reason the use of pain compliance is often subject to explicit rules of engagement designed to prevent abuse and avoid conflict escalation.