The clip you've seen on network TV of the Cincinnati police incident is probably only a fraction of what happened. As always, it's better to see the whole video before you pass judgement (link is in the "top story" area right now).

Even this isn't the entire video... I'd be very interested to see (well, probably hear) the exchanges that happened just prior to the video starting. However, on the limited lead-up I saw, the cops appeared to be doing what they had to in order to subdue a violent person. Note also the nightsticks got put up as soon as backup arrived.

What bothers me much more was that the cops quite obviously knew the guy wasn't breathing, yet made no move at basic emergency first-aid. No CPR, no mouth-to-mouth, no nothing. The EMT that apparently was called to the scene drove off and took awhile to return. No idea if it would've done any good... the guy certainly looked like a self-propelled heart attack. But it definitely would at least appear to be a breakdown in procedure.