The problem is that it seldom stops at that. Police easily go from using “enhanced techniques“ on known perpetrators to using them to identify perps.If it’s torture for punishment, no. If it’s torture to get information from the lowlife that COULD save the life of his innocent victim, yes.
Case in point was the ex-felon scumbag who kidnapped, raped, tortured, and then murdered an innocent woman. He refused to give her whereabouts. It was POSSIBLE, though doubtful, that she was still alive, and a few minutes of waterboarding could have given her the 50 years the monster stole from her.