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♪ >> This is "NJ Spotlight News".

>> Hello and welcome "NJ Spotlight News".

The Patterson Police Department is going over a transition after the state has taken over.

A listening session was held to hear directly from community members and their concerns, alleging a culture of police misconduct.

Our senior correspondent has more on how that session went and how the community is feeling.

>> I get the pain this community has felt.

I also know the trust between law enforcement and this community has been broken.

Reporter: The Attorney General promised Patterson residents that he had come to hear their concerns about how police treat people, especially those in mental crisis.

He took command of Pattersons Police Department weeks after the controversial police shooting of a man who had suffered an emotional breakdown and called for help.

>> All they want is justice for my son.

He did a lot for his community, I hope the community is behind him.

Reporter: Residents told personal stories about their encounters with police, they're wary of promises, bringing in a New York City cop was brought in to an act reforms.

The department needs more than a cosmetic fix.

>> To talk about retraining, no.

They should have been fired for that, at the very least.

>> We need terminations, accountability, if you are talking about accountability, we need to see it.

People need to feel that if they are going to call 911 for help, they are going to get help, not get met with violence or death.

>> Your officers need to all be fired.

They harass, they insult.

Reporter: He explained his powers are limited and cannot get involved in clinical scandals plaguing city Council.

As for firing bad cops.

>> Are there people who shouldn't be there?

Probably.

Reporter: Politics bubbled up regardless.

>> It is a shame that the mayor is not in this place tonight.

It is a tragedy and a travesty.

Reporter: The mayor said he wasn't invited what others made a point of asking him on to understand problems are deep, systemic and will not yield to simple solutions.

They need fundamental recognition in exchange for full cooperation.

>> It is deeper than you coming in here.

What has to happen is the people that are working here need to know that everybody with a hoodie is not a criminal.

Reporter: Residents asked to push his beyond his program designed to help police deal with mental health incidents, they want a sponsor.

-- they want a response.

>> I appeal to you to put policies in place for mental health.

Policies that do not involve sending a militant police force to respond.

Reporter: Plat vowed that he took their concerns seriously.

Joanna: Small police departments New Jersey have a hard time making investments in things like de-escalation and domestic violence training or recruitment.

They don't have the money.

This congressman gathered with police union leaders to champion of bill that would boost funding for those smaller departments.

>> We wouldn't send our greatest firefighters into a fire without the tools or training, why would you do the same for law enforcement?

Reporter: This congressman is trying to pass a bill that would provide federal funds for small police departments, like the one in Fort Lee.

It would help provide training and resources for departments with fewer than 200 officers.

>> This bill addresses issues of bite's apartment -- providing support to police officers and building trust with communities.

The funding mechanisms are essential components.

>> The larger agencies have the resources, usually get the grants, and the beauty of invest and protect is it takes care of the smaller agencies.

This bipartisan bill does more to help agencies than any other bill in Congress now involving the police.

>> This legislation will look to correct that.

We are grateful to Josh for identifying the problem and grateful for him to introduce this legislation.

>> This a bill will make investment and law enforcement, training, recruitment and training of officers.

To protect our officers, our families and our communities.

Reporter: The bill and words run counter to his congressional colleagues who have advocated for defunding the police or giving them less money.

He says it is not a position he wants to take.

>> You will not make communities safer by slashing budgets.

It won't stop robberies and car thefts or help us fight hate crimes and shoplifters.

Reporter: All 10 New Jersey Democratic representatives supported the bill when it came up for a vote last year.

He says his bill would provide for retention bonuses for police officers who stay on the force and help fund training for a variety of calls.

>> Domestic violence response training.

Domestic violence calls are some of the most dangerous and lethal for law enforcement.

New Jersey reported 63,000 domestic violence offenses.

They have to be safe, people need to feel safe, they need to feel it they can go downtown and walk in the park.

That only happens with law enforcement.

Reporter: This bill is similar to a bill he introduced last year and got past the House and Senate with bipartisan votes.

He hopes tweaks can get this bill passed the finish line.

>> I worked with senators after I initially drafted it.

We have done all that, now we can get it passed, which is what we are doing.

We have a Democratic Republican in the House and Senate introducing the bill simultaneously, we have support behind us.

Reporter: Fort Lee's police department has 100 sworn officers.

Nationwide, 94% of police department have fewer than 100.

This bill would give them financial support.

Joanna: The World Health Organization declared that COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency, a designation it has held for three your spirit the director general says he has hope in making this announcement but it does not mean Covid no longer poses a threat, the announcement comes less than a week before the emergency is set to end of the U.S.. To explain all this means is an epidemiologist, Stephanie, great to talk to you.

Put into perspective what this declaration from the World Health Organization means.

>> This means is that we are no longer in an acute phase of a pandemic.

If you are looking at the most important markers, deaths and hospitalizations, those are down globally, particularly in the U.S. where vaccinations are available.

It does not mean that Covid is over, it still happens.

In February we had 9000 Covid deaths.

People are still dying globally, every three minutes there is a death from Covid.

This is an infections -- infectious disease.

The acute phase where it is having a significant impact on health care systems has passed.

Joanna: By ending the global health emergency are we entering an endemic?

>> That is what we are looking at.

Endemic means there is an expected number of cases, not that the number of cases is low.

What we have seen with each wave is that the baseline, the expected number of cases, has risen.

There is a significant mount of illness and death circulating due to Covid, but we have reached a point where we can manage it at her.

Joanna: What can you tell us about the risks in New Jersey right now?

>> The number of cases is down significantly, fewer people are testing, more of those tests are done outside of the clinical system, they are not getting counted.

The best measure of the impact Covid is having is hospitalizations and deaths, which are down dramatically over the past several months, and this year compared to last year.

We are in a better place, vaccination rates are high, we are in a position to maintain an awareness of Covid without having it have a grip on our day to day living.

Joanna: We are seeing Thursday think U.S. will and it's a public health emergency.

Do you expect a shift?

>> The shift is looking at the long term impact, the bodies of children who had Covid.

The way we are looking at Covid, from an infectious to chronic illness will happen.

Joanna: You always make it simple for us to understand, thank you.

>> Support for the medical report is provided by Blue Cross and Blue Shield New Jersey.

>> No justice, no peace.

Joanna: Seton Hall students are keeping the heat on administrators demanding more support for the Africana course.

Students set up camp inside the presidents hall.

The schools refusing to meet with the group until they vacate the administrative building.

The battle over congestion pricing continues, the plan to add a toll to all cars entering a lower Manhattan.

It has brought together eight New Jersey congressional member group who are calling on Kathy Hochul to back off.

They sent a letter calling the proposal and unfair hit against New Jersey families.

The plan would charge up to $23 for cars entering the city's south of 60th streets.

Money from congestion pricing is set to go to the MTA, New Jersey leaders argue none of it will go back to New Jersey's transportation system.

They want a new plan that would invest in transit here in New Jersey.

The congestion pricing plan is not expected to go into effect before April of next year.

>> This is simply an unacceptable plan that targets New Jersey.

Commuting into the city from Queens or the Bronx is different, a lot less expensive.

Commuting from New Jersey is double the price.

This is an unfair price on New Jersey commuters.

Joanna: It has been a decade since Bridget and Kelly came into the spotlight of the Bridgegate scandal, the lane closure that lasted several days.

The initial conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court and three years later, the New Jersey Attorney General's office announced her legal fees will be covered.

Her codefendant has not had his legal fees covered.

Thanks so much for being with us, you initially soft composition for your legal fees -- soft --sought compensation.

>> What happened was early on, I tried to get my legal fees taken care of by the state, they died it that day denied it.

I was sent is depressed -- sentence twice to prison.

We won unanimously and it was overturned, my convictions were overturned.

At that time the attorneys put in to get my bills paid, they have been now.

The statute reads, because I was employed by the state of New Jersey, and there was no -- the Supreme Court found me not guilty, it overturned the conviction, that is why they were paid.

Much like anyone else in this situation, everybody else's legal bills have been taken care of with the exception of my codefendant.

He was employed by Port Authority, there statute reads it differently.

Anybody that was named has had their legal fees paid.

There is a lot that -- this seems to be big news, there were a lot of other people's legal fees.

Joanna: The statute you are referring to says any public employee who is wrongfully convicted has the right to have their legal fees paid by the state.

It's hard to believe we are 10 years since the scandal.

Three years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned your case.

It has been a long time this has been sitting on your back.

How does it feel today to know that this is behind you?

>> It's really not behind me, the hangover remains.

I haven't been able to get my career back, my reputation back.

It feels good to know my attorneys or compensated for the good work they did.

It means it is officially over.

There is a lot of psychological trauma involved that remains and I lost a lot of people, a lot of people walked away from me.

That is unfounded.

It's hard on me because I didn't think people over that mean.

I'm happy my attorneys are being compensated for the work they did.

Unfortunately the other things that are lost are not monetary, that will take some time.

Joanna: Bridget Anne Kelly, glad to have you here.

♪ In our spotlight on business, Robert Menendez took a tour of the iron bound section of New York, ringing attention to small businesses for national small is this week.

He used the moment to stress the importance of investment in small businesses and New Jersey's downtowns.

>> You see a lot of businesses a thriving, there is always going to be things we can improve upon, hopefully we have a more resilient economy.

It is facing a lot of challenges, we will ensure that businesses like this stay open.

There is a great set of legislators here.

Joanna: The U.S. a jobs report shows a reversal on the downward trend we have seen, the U.S. added 253,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate return to 3.4% which remains the lowest unemployment rate since 1969.

It has been a year since New Jersey banned single use plastic bags.

More than 5 billion plastic bags were kept out of the waste stream from grocery stores alone.

The group clean Ocean action has reported a 37 percent drop in plastic waste littering the beaches.

The numbers highlight the first annual report from the state plastics advisory Council.

They warn the work to cut down on plastic pollution is far from over and are calling on leaders to deal with a surge in usable bags and create a uniform enforcement policy.

As the legal cannabis marketplace enters here too, we are seeing a drop of medical marijuana patients.

The number of patients is down 13% year over year.

The main reason could be that higher prices that medical patients have to pay.

One way to drive them down is to allow home cultivation, something New Jersey still won't green light.

We spoke with's -- with Senator Singleton.

Reporter: We know that legal cannabis businesses lack diversity in gender and race, it also can create an unclear -- unfair playing field when it comes to the price of marijuana.

How would your will change that?

>> The home grow bills that we have introduced, the focus is to move New Jersey to what every other state that has legalized cannabis has done, to add home row.

With pricing in New Jersey, there needs to be downward pressure to force that to pricing to be more realistic.

We believe home grow has an opportunity to do that without negatively impacting the industry.

We have information that shows from other states, both can coexist well.

It is our hope we can get that across the finish line this year.

Reporter: Did this come about because you are hearing about challenges?

>> The foundation of this legislation is always about people, people who use medical cannabis as their medicine and are seeing -- just like in the traditional sense, the pricing making them make choices.

We want to find a way to put downward pressure on that.

Reporter: The bill has not attracted bipartisan support.

>> That will change once the bill begins to move.

There is a philosophical challenge as it relates to those who see home grow on a competing track with the traditional corporate cannabis industry.

I reject that notion.

My obligation is to talk about this and educate others to remind them we can do this, and not district the industry we just -- destruct the industry we just created.

Reporter: Thank you so much for joining us, we will have to watch and see what happens.

Joanna: Make sure you check out NJ Business Beat this weekend, we look at the impact of the first year of a recreational marijuana sales in the state.

That is Saturday at 5:00 p.m. and Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m..

The market responded prominently -- positively to the jobs report here is this how it closed.

>> Support for The Business Report provided by the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey, working for economic prosperity by uniting business and community leaders for 150 years.

Membership and event information online at ChamberSNJ.com.

♪ Joanna: Be sure to check out Reporters Roundtable with our political correspondent who talks with Amy Torres about President Biden's latest immigration policy, Saturday at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday at 10:00 a.m.. David talks with Steve Sweeney about the legislative races and potential got in -- run for governor.

Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday at 10:30 AM.

You can listen to "NJ Spotlight News" via podcast, download it and check us out.

I am Joanna Gagis, have a great weekend, we will see you back here on Monday.

>> NJM Insurance Group has been serving New Jersey businesses for over a century.

New Jersey realtors, the voice for real estate in New Jersey.

Her information is online at And By the PSEG foundation.

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What do you see?

I see myself.

I became an ESL teacher to give my students what I wanted when I came to this country.

The opportunity to learn, to dream, to achieve, a chance to be known and to be an American.

My name is Julia, I am proud to be a member.

>> I am grateful I am still here.

>> That is me and my donor when we went to celebrate our first anniversary.

>> I'm exploring new places.

>> Nobody thought I was going to be here.

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♪