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mental health professionals need to be the ones who respond to mental health emergencies.

This would change less than you'd think. Because you'd still need police to gain control of the situation before bringing in the mental health professional safely to do their thing, And that whole 'gaining control of the situation' is where shit tends to go wrong.
Unless your plan is to train mental health professionals to have police like tactics to subdue people. In which case I have to question why it's easier to train a mental health professional to act like a cop than it is to train a cop to act like a very budget mental health professional to control the situation for the real guy. Also most mental health professionals are not emergency mental health professionals. 
Also unless you send them out to every call, odds are by the time you realize that mental health is needed, it's probably too late. Consider - 911 gets a call, dude with a gun is firing randomly. Could be drunk, an asshole, really stupid, a wanna be mass shooter, or mental health crisis. Only 1-2 of those require a mental health professional. Only way to know is to send police out first to find out. Which is again when shit usually goes wrong.
Mental health care in the country needs to be far, far more proactive. There's no way to stop altercations/shootings when police respond to a mental health crisis because shit just happens. Sending mental health professionals doesn't help too much. But front end care to prevent the crisis and back end care after the crisis will help prevent repeat crisis. Mental health facilities in this country are insanely underfunded.
The same ole talking points will not work. How about accountability?  Hold the police to the same standards they hold us?  Kill someone you go to jail. No Union to protect you. >

Hold police accountability at the level of every other profession. Personal liability. Carry insurance. You mess up? Rates go up.
Healthcare? Free market. Housing? Free market. Economy? Free market. Workers? Free market. Groceries? Free market. Energy? Free market. Cops? Socialism. 
Come on. We can do better. >

Or just imprison them like general population. Imagine if they provided these resources to other non police criminals >

Wait till you see what happens when federal agencies investigate themselves lol >

Damages need to be paided directly from the officers retirement fund and mental health professionals need to be the ones who respond to mental health emergencies.