As negotiators walk into Cincinnati's federal courthouse today, they'll have a visible reminder of all that's at stake in the effort to settle the racial profiling lawsuit filed against the city.

        Volunteers who surveyed community sentiment about race relations — which is now the foundation for the proposed settlement — will assemble for an all-day silent vigil today and Friday.

        “Our mission is to show support for the settlement talks, to say we want them to stay in there until they come up with a solution,” said Steve Sunderland, organizer of a group called Citizens Supporting a Collaborative Process.

        Behind closed doors, negotiators will wrangle with details about how citizen complaints will be handled, whether recommendations from a U.S. Justice Department investigation will be included and how any agreement might be monitored.

        “We're 90 percent to the deal,” said Jay Rothman, president of Aria Group, the Yellow Springs-based conflict resolution firm leading the talks. “And sometimes that last 10 percent is the hardest.

        “The kind of community support we're seeing is essential because it moves people to muster the will to cross the finish line.”

        These last days of negotiations come after a yearlong process that began last March, when the Ohio chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and a group of local black activists asked that a little-known racial profiling case be certified as a class-action, meaning it would cover all African-Americans who claim they've been wrongly detained by police.

        But before much could be done with the case, the city's worst race riots in decades erupted in April after a Cincinnati police officer shot and killed an African-American man. Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken asked for the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the police department's patterns and practices.

        In May, parties to the lawsuit decided to broaden the scope beyond racial profiling in an effort to change the way police officers and community members interact.

        Mr. Rothman was brought in, and dozens of meetings were held to garner community interest and input; the lawsuit was put on hold.

        Some 3,500 people participated, and their ideas have become the foundation for what's being negotiated in today's session.

        U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott has set April 5 as the date for negotiations to end. By then, either an agreement will be signed or the parties will stop negotiations and head back to court. That is two days before the one-year anniversary of Timothy Thomas' death.

        Despite some criticism from both those in the community and City Council members, there has been a last-minute push to support a settlement.

        Last week, there was a statement from Angela Leisure, Mr. Thomas' mother. On Tuesday, local African-American community leaders — including the NAACP, Baptist Ministers Conference and the Urban League of Greater Cincinnati — urged a settlement.

        Today, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center placed a full-page ad in The Cincinnati Enquirer encouraging resolution.

        The ad, headlined “Freedom Takes Cooperation,” is part of the Freedom Center's campaign to promote dialogue and healing with a series of leaflet drops, community council visits, a televised student discussion forum, and radio and TV interviews.

        “This is a critical moment in the history of our city, and we felt it was critical for us to add our name to those who are looking for solutions,” said Dr. Spencer Crew, executive director and CEO of the Freedom Center.

        Reporter Kevin Aldridge contributed.

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