A new policy for the Seattle Police Department aims to change how officers handle crisis situations with people who are mentally ill or under the influence. The crisis intervention policy, which takes effect Monday, is part of the city’s federally-mandated police reforms.

A key component calls for officers to de-escalate a situation whenever feasible, in line with standard law enforcement practices.

In 2011, a federal investigation found Seattle police officers too often used excessive force. The feds also found the patterns of force mostly arose during encounters with people who have mental illness or are impaired by drugs or alcohol.

Gazala Uradnik is with the Seattle office of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, which is part of the committee that’s helped craft these new police guidelines.

Uradnik said she’s hopeful the policy will help officers gain a new awareness "that someone with mental illness isn’t going to necessarily be violent and there is just a way to step back and calmly have a conversation with the person."