It's been five days since Nathaniel Jones died during a confrontation with police in the parking lot of a North Avondale White Castle. It's time to assess what we know so far.

• We know the Cincinnati Police and the city administration have learned a lot about damage control since the death of Timothy Thomas at the hands of the police in 2001, an event that sparked three days of rioting. Officials waited more than 24 hours before saying much of anything then, allowing public rage and speculation about Thomas' death to grow. This time the city manager decided a press conference would be held as soon as the town was awake enough to absorb the news. Video from a police car and White Castle's security cameras recorded the event in detail and those tapes were released almost as soon as they were processed.

• We know that the video has proved to be a mixed blessing for the city. Many news outlets, particularly at the national level, have shown and re-shown the segment of the officers striking Jones with their batons, without showing the part of the tape that has him first lunging at the police and knocking one officer to the ground.

• We know that the police officers got precious little help from their brethren in the fire department - a fact that may be crucial in the ensuing investigations. Firefighters responded to the scene first because Jones apparently had passed out in front of the restaurant. When they got there they found he had revived and become a public "nuisance," meaning he appeared to be intoxicated and was making a lot of noise, so they called police. The firefighters waited for the cops to arrive, watched the confrontation start, and then left. On the video, after Jones is subdued and the police realize he has stopped breathing, you can see one officer start CPR while others look around wondering where the guys with the resuscitation expertise have gone.

• We have learned that several members of city council think that the biggest mistake the police made was not adequately preparing the politicians to give sound bites. Alicia Reece and Christopher Smitherman roasted Chief Thomas Streicher and City Manager Valerie Lemmie for getting information to the public and the press before giving it all to them. Reece and Smitherman should learn to just say, "I don't know." Five members of council moved to establish new rules governing how city officials talk to the press. These are the same officials who used to complain that the police were too stingy with information in such cases.

• We have learned Streicher and Mayor Charlie Luken, quick to release information, also were quick to release opinions - probably too quick. Both said that based on the video, they thought it appeared the officers followed proper procedures. That was a tad premature, given that there are several ongoing investigations into the incident, including two by detectives who work for the city. On Thursday, Luken and Streicher cleaned it up a little, saying that until all of the investigations are complete they will not reach "final" conclusions.

• Perhaps most importantly, we have learned that even if all of the police and firefighters followed every rule, the fact remains that an unarmed man who had not committed any crime before the police arrived on the scene was dead a few minutes later. That will never be acceptable.

If this case went by the book, then we need a new book. That doesn't mean we need to find someone to blame for Nathaniel Jones' death if no blame is warranted. We don't need a sacrifice. We need a change.

David Wells is editor of the Enquirer editorial page. Contact him at (513) 768-8310; fax: (513) 768-8610; e-mail: dwells@enquirer.com. Cincinnati.Com keyword: Wells.