>> Funding for "NJ Spotlight News" provided by the members of the New Jersey education Association, making public schools great for every child.

And RWJ Barnabas Health.

>> Tonight, major flooding slams North Jersey, closing roads, taking out power, and leaving some drivers stranded.

Plus, continued questions after the release of body camera footage showing the fatal shooting of a 25-year-old Wortley woman during what families essay was a mental.

>> This family put a lot of trust in our systems to help her get care, and instead, she was shot in her own front entryway.

>> Also a rise in senior scams.

How can you stay safe and protect yourself amid the spike?

>> If you receive phone calls or emails and you did not solicit them, chances are they could be fraudulent.

>> And Camden County health officials are trying to get ahead of the school year by kicking off a summer vaccine campaign.

>> I want my child healthy, so it's good.

If your kids can be vaccinated on time, they can have better immunity against the disease.

>> "NJ Spotlight News" starts now.

♪ >> from NJ PBS Studios, this is "NJ Spotlight news."

>> good evening and thanks for joining us this Monday night.

We begin with a couple of big headlines to get you started.

First, folks are still cleaning up today after a line of powerful storms hit North Jersey, causing another bout of flooding, leading to road closures, and drivers who needed to either be rescued or abandon their vehicles.

According to the National Weather Service, areas around the Passaic River was slammed with more than 4 inches of rain.

Patterson, Passaic, Basking Ridge, and Mountainside were among the hardest hit.

It was a while seen in East Rutherford along Hackensack Street, which was fully underwater.

Forecasts show another front is pushing through tonight, so there is a chance for more flooding in areas where water has not receded.

Another story we are following tonight -- disgraced U.S.

Senator Bob Menendez has officially ended his half-century career in politics.

Just hours before the Friday deadline, Menendez pulled his name from the November ballot where he had planned to run for reelection as an independent.

Menendez sent a letter via emailed to the state Department elections requesting his name be removed.

It came on the same day Governor Murphy appointed his Former Chief of Staff to build the seat until voters elect a permanent replacement in the fall.

Menendez, of course, in July was found guilty of 16 Ellen accounts, including taking bribes and acting as a foreign agent of Egypt.

He will formally resign from the Senate tomorrow and is scheduled to be sentenced in late October.

It's a stunning ending for someone who wielded immense power in both state and federal politics for decades.

And more calls for law enforcement reforms after Friday's release of Fort Lee police body camera footage which showed police arriving in response to call for help in a mental distress call.

Little action was taken to de-escalate the situation and roughly two and a half minutes later resulted in 25-year-old Victoria Lee being fatally shot to the chest.

Social justice and other advocates in the Asian-American community have been holding rallies and vigils, demanding police to be held accountable.

Senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan has more reaction tonight as the investigation continues.

>> Fort Lee police bodycam show the rapid escalation of officers' response to a July 28 call for help with a young woman in the throes of a mental health crisis.

>> I'm going to break the door down.

>> go ahead.

I'll stab you in the -- neck.

>> Only about 10 seconds elapses between the final door knock and the fatal gunshot that kills 25-year-old Victoria Lee.

>> Open the door!

Quick to drop the weapon!

>> We're going to break the door !

>> Opener -- open up!

>> I look at that video and see a scary young woman who is well aware of the risks of encounters with police who is experiencing one of the worst moments of her life.

>> Amber Lee advocates for New Jersey's Asia Pacific island or community.

She says police overreacted to lead's mental health meltdown and that the bodycam video released Friday only underscores their concerns -- she says police overreacted to Lee's mental health met on.

>> She was shot in her own front entryway.

>> Police took Lee to the hospital where she later died.

It's a scenario her brother feared when he first called 911 asking for just an ambulance.

The dispatcher insisted -- >> if it's a mental health reaction, I will send officers also.

For the safety of the ambulance.

We will send both for her.

>> As the family waited, Victoria's brother called 911 again trying unsuccessfully to cancel the request for help.

He told the dispatcher his sister was not violent but have -- had a "folding knife."

Responding officers took only seconds to decide on lethal force.

After pushing the door open, officer Tony Pickens Junior fires a single shot.

It's tough to see on the video, but at this point, the family maintains Lee was only holding an empty 5 gallon water bottle.

>> where's the knife?

Where's the knife?

>> with Lee down and bleeding, police scramble to assist, call for towels BT -- before taking her outside.

>> general, police will negotiate with the person behind the door sort of in a quasi-hostage situation.

But they did not even do that.

He was a family trying to get help.

Victoria had received help in the past, so it truly is tragic.

I've heard from various community leaders that people in Fort Lee are now afraid to call 911.

>> Asian Americans are particularly reluctant to seek mental health services.

She reviewed the tapes and saw no real attempt to de-escalate the situation, despite a statewide officer training program and initiatives like arrived together, promoted by the Attorney General.

It integrates mental health experts into police crisis response teams.

>> I was dismayed.

I could not believe the overreach of forced that was used in that tape.

>> Professor Jason Williams notes Fort Lee is still in the process of implementing and arrived together protocol, which he thinks might have saved Victoria Lee.

>> this is a textbook case of all that is wrong, unfortunately, with our police, with police in the country.

The fact that it appears they did not even try to de-escalate, it's very troubling.

>> New Jersey's state office of Public integrity and accountability will investigate the case before it goes before a grand jury.

That could take months.

>> This incident is also putting renewed focus on the number of civilians who have been killed as a result of interactions with law enforcement.

Statewide data show New Jersey police have shot and killed five people so far in 2024.

It is pure civilian deaths that and at this time last year, but the data also points out that two of those shot by police are believed to have been in mental distress.

An analysis dug deeper, looking at statistics for the last five years and found 30% of fatal police shootings in the state are likely linked to a mental health crisis, prompting social justice advocates to call on law enforcement to do more to prevent these tragedies.

Senior writer Colleen O'Day is with me now to share her reporting NY pinning down this data is not so easy -- and why pinning down this data is not so easy.

Why don't they have this in a public database?

>> That is a really good question that I would love to get an answer to.

We did not get an answer to that question when we asked the Attorney General's office.

You can look at the use of force database that is available, which is a method of transparency, something we have had for a few years now, and you can see when there has been a gunshot.

You can see if a person has been arrested, but there's no -- it does not say gunshot death, and for arrests, what has happened is if a person has died, then they are typically not arrested, so you may often see gunshot, no arrest, but you cannot be sure that's the case.

Why not just come out and say?

It's mind boggling.

I don't know.

>> Based on the numbers you did find and were able to analyze, what does it tell us about these incidents, and specifically the ones that end tragically in debt?

-- in death?

>> there are a couple of ways you can characterize what police call a metal health incident or welfare check.

Both of those are people either saying or police finding out from someone there may be a problem here.

There are others, though, that would characterize -- not many because we try to be cautious, but I think an incident where someone is walking around town with a machete -- that might come in as a police call for a disturbance, but it certainly seems like an incident where there was likely a mental health issue happening here.

There are not clear and fast rules for how some of these things are characterized, so that leads to some fuzziness about how many.

There could be more than 30%.

>> that begs the question about the training.

You think of a couple of the incidents you wrote about, this incident in Fort Lee certainly is different than a man were police were called, he had a running chainsaw in his hands, right?

There are all different categories of the level of threat, both to public comment to that person, and to police, but to -- do police have the right tools at their disposal -- do police have the right tools at their disposal?"

I think the answer would have to be no.

There are some training police have to go through.

It's not very long, and I think we are still uncertain at this point if it is something that happened -- that has to happen every year, every five years, every 10 years, or do you just go through it once.

I think we are asking police to do a lot of things that maybe they did not do 20 years ago, including be mental health experts.

We have the arrived together program.

Certainly folks I have talked to have said that having a mental health professional come in and arrive with police or shortly thereafter is something that, you know, can help, and there is data that shows New Jersey has helped to prevent some of these terrible tragedies.

>> Does it make a bigger difference in communities where there are more people of color?

Did your analysis show us anything about how they are affected?

>> Our analysis shows that, yes, 40% of those who have been shot and killed by police were black, African-American, and that is way out of proportion to the population in the state.

If those things were help, I certainly think that it is worth looking into, and social justice advocates say that absolutely these programs should be in place in large communities of color to prevent these kinds of incidents.

>> All of the breakdown of your analysis is on our website.

Thank you very much.

The FBI is warning Americans of an uptick in scams targeting older people.

According to the agency's latest drug report, scammers still roughly $3.4 billion from seniors last year.

Investigators say it may be just the tip of the iceberg, and a new survey put together by AARP backs up the concerns, showing a stunning amount of adults have had personal experience with fraud.

The state director of AARP New Jersey joins me with more on what scams to look for and how you can prevent that.

Thanks for coming on.

I'm curious to know, what type of scams are we seeing that are most prevalent, affecting older Americans, older New Jersey residents?

>> sure, thanks for having me.

I think the scams we find are impacting 4 in 10 Americans, and they range from male -- from mail to online.

>> Why are they being targeted?

Is it because they are presumed to have chunks of retirement savings, these nest eggs?

Quickly, honestly they tend to have income or have some savings, and these fraudsters are just very well-trained in doing this.

They have really taken the time to come up with these scams that may seem legitimate.

They might seem like a legitimate asked for something that is too good to be true, and often people all under this either of fear of missing out or there's this really great opportunity and I need to take advantage of it.

I don't want to miss out, and they don't do their homework.

>> give us some examples of the types of scams you have seen or signed folks should look for if they do get pinged in their email or, worse, and phone call.

>> the good news is many older adults are not aware of things where you are making a very quick financial decision and being asked to sign a gift card or cryptocurrency -- people are now recognizing that that is not the way to business, but I think the best thing folks can do is that if information is being pushed out to them, somebody asking them for information, to really do your homework and make sure that you are interacting with someone or something that is legitimate.

Even if it is a trusted company, go to their website and look for the safe way to do business.

If you are receiving phone calls, emails and you did not solicit those, chances are they could be fraudulent.

>> yeah, so don't react, think before you do so, but as you said, some of these scams are really sophisticated.

They are using AI, mimicking people's voices, those of a loved one.

What are other ways that folks can protect themselves?

>> sure.

I like to invite folks to check out our fraud watch network.

On that page, they have a list of some of the latest scams and what to look out for.

Don't make a decision in the moment.

Take a deep breath.

Think about, does this sound legitimate?

Like you said, with AI, they can replicate voices and things like this.

So you need to make sure you do your homework, check in with that level in and make sure they are in fact a safe, but don't make any rash decisions.

Take the time to make sure that things are legitimate.

>> It's good advice.

State director for AARP New Jersey.

Thanks so much.

>> Thanks for having me.

>> In our spotlight on business report tonight, it will take a lot more than lower mortgage rates to make home ownership more affordable thanks to a recent drop, rates are at their lowest level in more than a year, but at 6.5% on average, experts say people are not necessarily racing to jump into the market.

There are still a lot of other factors for prospective homebuyers to contend with.

Namely, limited inventory, record high prices, and lingering fears of recession, so what does it mean for the future of the housing market?

>> It's no secret that for real estate, we are living in a sellers' market.

Despite interest rates being more than twice as high as what they were during the pandemic, the value of a home has continued to rise.

>> it's not only New Jersey, but it has been a nationwide trend as well, and it has never happened before.

>> real estate experts say there could be some relief for homebuyers in the coming months.

The Federal Reserve Board meets in mid-September, and the decisions they make will have wide-ranging effects on the housing market.

>> what we expect to see happen going forward is that interest rates will continue to fall.

The inventory of houses on the market will rise, and home prices will slow below this very high rate of increase that we have been seeing in recent years.

>> But that's not a perfect solution for people trying to buy a home.

>> more buyers will jump into the market, and if that happens, it's going to keep housing prices high.

It even increase housing prices.

>> experts generally agree that housing is expensive.

With mortgage rates so high and so few people trying to sell homes.

>> This lots of people who cap refinancing or purchase that just the right time, and they might be at 2.25% or two point 5%, and then they look at rates at 6%, 70%, 7.5%, and they are thinking, how do I sell my property to buy something -- downsize?

>> New Jersey homebuyers have also faced competition from New Yorkers looking to leave the city.

>> originally, they were trying to escape from the high concentration of COVID virus infections in New York City, but with time, with the hybrid and work from home models, high income households from New Jersey, from New York City moved into New Jersey and caused home prices to inflate.

>> in September, the Fed is expected to cut interest by .25 percent, leaving it at around 6%.

Ken Verizon's Berkshire Hathaway home services -- ken Barris owns Berkshire Hathaway home services.

>> you are going to see the magic number where someone can still make a move and feel OK about it.

>> anything helps, but getting below 5% for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage is probably the point at which we will see the market start to free up.

>> These experts say potential homebuyers should still dive in.

>> Right now would be a great time for buyers to jump into the market.

There is always great financing that they can do because once those interest rates come down, we will see an influx of buyers coming in.

>> I would say, buy something you like rather than rent something you love because you are going to love the equity over time.

>> Every time you rent, you are helping to build equity in somebody else's property.

Why not do it in your own home?

>> The Fed factors in several variables when deciding to cut interest rates.

Unemployment numbers and inflation play a big part, so all eyes will be on the Fed in September to see if they will make more homeowners in New Jersey.

>> Turning to Wall Street, the recovery rally continues and here's how the markets closed.

Finally tonight, it may be hard to accept, but summer is winding down, and back-to-school preparations are ramping up.

So is the return of all those seasonal illnesses like flu, strep, and COVID.

Camden County launched a mobile clinic to make it easier for families to keep their kids up-to-date on vaccines this year.

As Raven Santana reports, there no appointment or affiliation with a primary care doctor needed.

>> I want my child healthy, so it's good.

If you could is going to be vaccinated on time, they can have that are community to fight the disease.

>> getting her daughter vaccinated was on the top of her back-to-school list, which is why she headed to this mobile van offering free vaccinations for uninsured children.

>> We are offering the two and detect -- Tdap and DTaP vaccines along with MMR and meningeal -- meningitis.

>> Patricia is a nurse with the Camden County Department of Health which partnered with other health care providers to offer a variety of required vaccinations in an effort to prepare families for the upcoming school year.

Elliott and fellow nurses say the clinics are in response to really low vaccine rates among children.

>> it was prompted from vaccine school audits that the county has done within the last two years, and we noticed there were a lot of children -- not sure if it was due to the pandemic, but post-pandemic, that were missing vaccines that were mandatory here in the state of New Jersey, so we decided to come up with this mobile clinic where we could go to their backyards, basically, and meet parents where they are always at, right?

Dropping kids off either at school programs, at summer camps, and that is how we came up with our locations.

>> According to state epidemiologist, vaccination rates for school-aged children have not yet rebounded to pre-pandemic rates.

>> unfortunately, during the pandemic, we did see a dip in vaccine coverage overall among our school-aged populations.

Fortunately, we are starting to see a rebound, although it is a little uneven, so we definitely still have room for improvement in terms of getting vaccinations , coverage much higher and back to earlier pre-pandemic levels.

It is critical for us to get those immunization coverage rates much higher because we constantly face issues related to vaccine-preventable diseases from a worldwide basis.

We saw over this past spring that there was an uptick in measles cases globally, and we had a lot of travelers from New Jersey who go into areas where measles is a situation, and we are very concerned about bringing back measles into areas, particularly when people are unvaccinated or under vaccinated.

>> the county created hotshots for tots campaign which showcases rewards for promoting best vaccination practices.

Governor Murphy also recently marked August as immunization awareness month.

Still, even with all the initiatives, Rodriguez says barriers exist, which is why she believes meeting the community where they are will close gaps.

>> It can be the parents' work schedule.

Sometimes there's fair.

These kids who have anxiety or parents who have questions, doubts about the vaccine, if they are effective or not, so those could be barriers for children to be up-to-date.

>> Rodriguez encourages any parents who are hesitant about having their children the required vaccinations to contact pediatrician and/or the Department of Health.

In the meantime, with school starting in a few weeks, she and Elliott hope to make the mobile van and annual back-to-school event.

>> support for "the medical report" is provided by Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield of New Jersey, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Association.

>> That does it for us tonight, but before you go, a reminder to download the "NJ Spotlight News" podcast so you can listen to us any time.

Thanks for being with us tonight.

We will see you right back here tomorrow.

>> NJM Insurance Group, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, and by the PSEG condition.

>> NJM Insurance Group has been serving New Jersey businesses for over a century, as part of the garden state, we help companies keep their vehicles on the road, employees on the job, and projects on track, working to protect employees from illness and injury, to keep good moving across the state.

We are proud to be part of New Jersey.

NJM, we've got New Jersey covered.