*This is a audio version of a video originally made for Youtube: https://youtu.be/ojXxz1u1R4c*

An excerpt from my previous video The Communes of Rojava: A Model In Societal Self-Direction (https://youtu.be/cDnenjIdnnE). I'll be releasing several other excerpts over the coming days covering each committee of the commune system.

I try to provide insight into the question "Do we need police in order to be safe as a community?" by using the way people in Rojava/DFNS have come together to protect themselves as a case study.

I look at the defense committees prevalent in many Rojavan communes as the outlines of a practical alternative to the police.

The community defense members in the communes (HPC and HPC-Jin) are all:

1. Elected and from the community

2. Recallable

3. Mandated (only allowed to act as directly told by the commune members)

4. Enforcing norms that every commune member gets a democratic say on instead of rigid laws given from above

4. Rotating and dispersed to as many people as possible to prevent abuse of power and make community safety a collective responsibility

5. Undergo regular criticism and self-criticism sessions in front of the whole community

This I argue makes them completely different from police, and a model I hope is incubated more to eventually replace the Asayish (regular security forces/police).

I. A Short Introduction to the Commune System of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria 0:00-2:43

II. The Communal Defense Committee: An Alternative to Police 2:43-6:04