So far, it looks like the city is having an outbreak of common sense.

Everyone has assumed the usual positions: The cop-bashers have raised questions, and the cop-defenders have raised their voices. But the flammable rhetoric is missing.

The city is reacting - but not overreacting. The video recorded near 6 a.m. Sunday looks like a grainy, "cruiser-cam'' episode of Cops.

The suspect, Nathaniel Jones, 41, attacked two cops trying to put cuffs on him. Jones, nearly 350 pounds, slugged one cop and put him in a headlock - then they all went down in a scrum in front of the cruiser while other cops used their batons to hit and jab Jones in the torso.

When they finally cuffed him, he was struggling for his life. The cops called for a rescue squad, but it was too late.

We don't know all the facts yet. Jones had a criminal record of cocaine abuse, and a medical condition.

Reports show that a fire engine and rescue unit responded, found Jones being unruly, then called the police and left the scene during the struggle.

"Normally, we stay there and treat the patient,'' fire Capt. Gary Henry said. Henry said he did not know the details of the incident, but explained the policy: "When we have a combative patient, we call the police to restrain the patient because they're the experts, then we treat the patient.''

Fire Chief Robert Wright said the rescue unit did not have another call and he's not sure why they left. "That certainly will be the focus of an administrative investigation'' when the police investigation is finished, Wright said. "I don't think anything we did contributed to his demise."

Click to view an Acrobat PDF file (168k) showing a detailed timeline of the police encounter with Nathaniel Jones. (Randy Mazzola infographic)

The five minutes before a rescue squad returned may be the target of investigations and lawsuits - but let's not forget who was responsible: Nathaniel Jones.

"If he had complied with police orders and put his hands behind his back, none of it would have happened,'' said Roger Webster, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, the police union. "Is it pretty? No, it's not pretty when someone resists arrest. I have yet to see a fight that is pretty.''

But the video, Webster said, shows police "were using pain-compliance techniques they were taught in the academy. They were not taking wild, flailing swings.''

Both of the first two officers on the scene were injured. "If you attack a police officer, this is what's going to happen,'' Webster said.

It's that simple. Resisting arrest or attacking a cop is hazardous. Our first assumption should be that the cops who are trained and given a gun and a badge to protect the rest of us were doing their tough and dangerous job the way they're supposed to do it.

Maybe Cincinnati finally gets it. This time, it looks like we're passing the test.

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E-mail pbronson@enquirer.com or call 768-8301.