Community Groups To Rally Following Death Of Gay Man In Police Custody

Community groups are calling for the end of police as first responders in mental health crises, following the death of gay man Collin Burling during a welfare check earlier in the week.

Burling died after being restrained by police during a mental health-related crisis at his Waterloo apartment complex early on Tuesday morning.

Footage taken by Burling’s partner, Taite Collins, shows four police officers pinning him to the ground, as he calls for help and tells police he was unable to breathe.

“I’m not a threat,” Burling can be heard saying. “Help me.”

Burling went into cardiac arrest and was unable to be revived.

Action for Public Housing spokesperson Rachel Evans said Burling’s death was not an isolated incident.

“This is a pattern. In the last five years, more than 55 people experiencing severe mental distress were killed in interactions with police.”

In July 2023, 43-year-old Jesse Deacon suffered an acute breakdown in his Glebe public housing home. A well-meaning neighbour rang emergency services and asked for the ambulance, but the police responded, forcibly entered his home, shot and killed Jesse.

“Mental illness is a health problem, not a police problem,” said Jesse’s mother, Judy Deacon. “We don’t want police responding to people in mental anguish.”

Similarly, First Nations Wakka Wakka man Patrick Fisher fell from level 13 of Waterloo public housing while fleeing from police in 2018, and police chased 17-year-old Indigenous man TJ Hickey to death in Waterloo in 2004.

“Police attend acute crises and can exacerbate situations,” said Deacon. “Their interventions result in killing vulnerable people suffering from a mental illness. They act with impunity, continuing to harass and kill Aboriginal people.”

Action for Public Housing is one of several groups rallying at Town Hall on Saturday to call for an immediate end of police responding to mental health crisis cases, and the introduction of mental health-first responder programs in their place.

“This is a war on the poor and vulnerable,” said Evans. “Police are killing people in and around the public housing estates. Jesse and Collin, Patrick… should all be alive. People in distress should be offered trained mental health staff, not killers in blue.”

Premier denies allegations of “heavy-handedness” from police

Queer advocacy group Pride In Protest have also shared their deepest condolences with Burling’s family and friends, and said police have no role in responding to mental health crisis calls.

They highlighted recent similar deaths in custody, including Gaurav Kundi in South Australia, Kumanjayi White in the Northern Territory, and Jack Kokaua in Sydney.

“Healthcare workers across NSW are desperately calling for better pay, staffing, an working conditions. We’ve seen a total collapse of the public health psychiatry system beacuse of the NSW Government’s refusal to meet basic demands to address the workforce crisis.

“But there’s always more money to chuck at policing.”

The organisation reiterated previously made demands, including the removal of the NSW Police Force from the Mardi Gras parade, and the end of Operation Mardi Gras, putting a stop to what they say is a “dangerous and overwhelming police presence in Sydney’s queer spaces and events”.

“Collin’s murder comes more than a year after Sydney couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies were allegedly murdered by off-duty police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon, who is still yet to enter a plea. This week’s senseless kill of yet another queer person by police shows that the NSW Police Force’s narrative of cooperation and reconciliation is a total farce.

“The police institution is an oppressive one laced with racism, queerphobia and violence, and one that is not held accountable for its actions.”

Premier Chris Minns has rejected suggestions of police misconduct, and said officers worked a “difficult job in difficult circumstances”.

“What I can promise is that we’ve got very robust independent oversight and investigation models in place and processes to ensure that the public can have confidence that these things will be investigated.”

A critical incident investigation team from the State Crime Commands Homicide Squad will investigate the circumstances surrounding the Burling’s death.

The investigation will also be subject to an independent review by the Professional Standards Command, overseen by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission.