I never had to fight harder to remain civilized than when those handcuffs locked on me.

They decided to chain me as soon as I asked for their names, who they work for, since simply announcing that you are the police it's not enough for you to walk in my house like you own it, at least not enough in my book.

But it was enough for them, regardless of the fact that I wasn't the guy they came looking for. In a way I was lucky they cuffed me because they forgot I was even there since I had been neutralized. Instead they decided to focus on the woman who had spent the night with me, whom they figured they could take the chance to propose a sexual exchange to because there wasn't anything I could do about it. I don't know if they tried touching her to get a reaction from me, but I suspect that's not at all related to it and sexually harassing females on the job is just standard in the industry.

Her and I got to sleep on our own beds that night but my other friend wasn't so lucky. I wanted to be angry at him because I told him to stay away from that shady business and he had brought the police straight to my house, I didn't know much in the way of detail about what he was doing but I did knew it was too good to be true. The most difficult thing was getting a call from his mother asking me what had happened and not being able to even tell her where he had been taken to, or even the name of one of those who took him. Later that day his mother would stop by to pick up what little stuff he had left after the police officers had taken all they thought they could discreetly sneak out with and sell. They took everything they could carry with them, whether it be a phone, watch, a perfume bottle or a pair of tennis shoes. My friend wasn't allowed to put shoes on when they took him, even though the sandals were outside and he asked for them. He wasn't even allowed to put a shirt on despite how much the neighbor complained about this abuse. He was lucky his car had died a few days before because otherwise they would had taken it too, I know because they had me search for the keys.

Later I would find that neighbor had a son who was once taken like that, which explains why she was looking after my friend, he reminded her of her son being taken.

Perhaps you are wondering why I am saying all this, what this post is about, but to be honest I'm not sure myself. I guess I am trying to explain some of what I've lived surrounding law keepers so that people can understand this is a reality and not a movie.

A few days ago I came across a trailer for a new movie that hasn't even been released, I think it's just playing in festivals for now. But by the looks of it, keeping in mind what seems to be the plot by watching the trailer, it would seem like it's a love story that takes place in a prison.

I think it's wonderful that artists are playing with different themes, trying to bring new stories to the screen, but by the same token I think it's dangerous to give any validation to prisons where it looks like this is a natural state of being for humans.

Many people think they could never end up in jail but it can happen to anyone. In their minds the only way you can end up in jail is by doing something wrong, breaking the law, but I know this is not the case.

Anyone can end up in jail, from those you don't care about to those you love most and even yourself. I even know people who have been put in a cage for a crime they did not commit and in a country that likes to brag about how advanced and just it is. No one is safe.

I haven't seen the movie yet so I don't know whether the director made any effort to show the conditions in which these people are made to live under or whether he just wanted to show inmates can fall in love too, that there can be intimacy and you can find humanity even in hell.

Absolutely! You can find humanity anywhere, there can be love everywhere. I wouldn't criticize this message, the message I wish to warn about is the one that normalizes human captivity.

There's usually people who react very negatively to the utility of prisons being questioned, perhaps these people have seen great evil carried out by some people and are afraid those people will be allowed to do as they please. They think there are people out there beyond salvation or not worth the trouble, that's why prisons don't seem like such a bad deal.

I don't know which is worse, to be in an American prison where you aren't even allowed to touch another inmate, can't even get a hug. Or to be placed in a Dominican prison where you don't even get drinking water for free, much less a bed, clothing, medicine, or anything you need for survival. This is a place where you need to pay for a mandatory haircut to avoid physical punishment, but you also have to pay cash money for this haircut while being unemployed because the prison will not give you a job. This is a place where even to walk the hallways you need to pay a toll to the guards, even to go out to the yard and take some sun has a price tag.

It's unlikely I'd see much sunlight if they ever come for me though, prison for me might as well be a death sentence. I don't know if it would be worse to be placed in a male or female prison, because at least guys can only orgasm 2 or 3 times in a day, but women can go on forever. Being in a male prison I would have to get me a daddy, I'd just grab the biggest dude with the smallest dick who can afford a private bathroom. But being in a female prison, being the most masculine figure around in a prison full of women everyone believes to be victims over me? Nope! I am not looking forward to prison being transgender, if isolation was any better I wouldn't even be able to get that.

The likelihood is I would end up in the women's prison, where my hair is not supposed to get cut because that's no treatment given to females, but I am sure they would try cutting my beard. At least in the female prison I'd get food, that while perhaps not very nutritious could keep me alive since I don't have family that could support me.

In recent years the Dominican Republic has introduced a pilot program for a few prisons. I think they have done this with a few prisons to get away with what they do in the other prisons. If anyone ever complains they'd just send the investigators to the nicer prison where people get fed, so they can say all is good, but things are far from good.

It is my wish to warn people against losing sensitivity to the issue of human captivity by watching all these films and shows that take place inside prisons. I know Americans have a tradition in this genre, lots of shows in this environment, but this is new for DR. I think I've seen two Dominican movies where you can see a few scenes in a jail, but the whole movie inside? That just started happening in recent years, just like the militarization of our police and the increased surveillance of our streets. We are sold this new way of life as an alternative to crime, a way into security, when in reality it is our demise. To not care people are being kept in cages and denied water, this is shameful, this is not something we want to glorify.

I will watch the movie to support the local film industry, but I will watch the movie knowing that I am watching exactly what the government who imposes itself through these prisons wants me to see. I will watch it knowing that whatever they show me is one hundred times worse in reality, I will watch the movie while thinking about all the innocent that are locked away, even people that I love. I will watch it knowing that it may be my reality one day and there's no much I can do to avoid it.

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