♪ >> This is NJ Spotlight News with Briana Vannozzi Briana: Thank you for joining us.

Antisemitism is hitting record new highs in New Jersey and across the U.S.. A new report released by the Anti-Defamation League has shown that levels are at the highest since 1979.

New Jersey saw a 10% increase in hate crimes for 2022. just earlier this month at an elementary school in Westwood Bergen County officials say a swastika made out of Twigs was found on school it's just one of hundreds of incidents that have communities and Advocates on high alert senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports as part of our ongoing exploring hate series looking at anti-Semitism racism and extremism.

>> We are doing well.

There are some great nerves of course.

>> The rabbi says after the recent fire bomb attack on Linfield's temple some in his congregation can still panic if they glimpse an unguarded door and he's not surprised by the new Anti-Defamation League report showing anti-Semitic incidents spiked across the U.S. last year.

>> The heat map revealed clusters in New York and New Jersey.

>> I have seen it with my own eyes and so I have to imagine that if anti-semitic incidents are on the rise locally they also have to be on the rise National cats believe social media is fueling hate that people fall into websites fomenting anti-Semitism he says in our deeply polarized nation that can radicalize and embolden people to act the ADL reports anti-semitic incidents in the U.S soared 36 percent just last year to almost 3 700.

New Jersey saw a 10 percent jump to to a record 408 anti-semitic incidents in 2022 pushing it to rank third among states after California and New York.

>> It's a big jump from the year before which was a big jump from the year before that including many many bias incidents in the schools.

>> The ADL Scott Rickman says incidents can include vandalism and bomb threats he also points to the attack on four Orthodox Jews in the Lakewood area last April allegedly by Manchester resident Dion Marsh now charged with Federal hate crimes.

>> The terrible rise in assaults a record number of assaults physical violence against Jews including nine such incidents in New Jersey this is typically against the Orthodox Community.

>> People who are visibly identifiable as as Jewish but discussing hate speech can often get Complicated by divisions over opposition to Israeli politics a frequent topic on college campuses says an associate editor for Jewish currents magazine she claims ADL statistics can sometimes blur the line people expressing opposition to Israel adaptions of the country it's completely different than you know expressing anti-semitic activists towards Jewish people especially the Jewish people in the United States and so I think to complete those two things is very problematic.

>> There are moments when criticism of Israel Rises to the level of anti-Semitism Rickman says the ADL uses an internationally accepted standard as its guideline when compiling statistics regardless of definitions no one disputes how anti-semitisms frightened people.

>> I had a young man who said to me he goes out with a baseball cap instead of a keeper because if somebody sees the keeper they know he's Jewish and he's concerned with that.

>> Rabbi David Levy says an American Jewish committee survey shows one in four American Jews reports changing clothing and jewelry that identifies them as Jewish out of fear for their safety and online.

>> Our young people are avoiding identifying themselves online as Jews because of what's happening in that toxic social media culture.

>> New Jersey's battling anti-Semitism these risings to statistics could reflect more people stepping up to report bias incidents says the Attorney General.

>> We have gone to Great Strides to encourage trust with our reporting system and know that if you report something we're going to look at it we're going to look at it criminally we'll look at it as a civil enforcement matter and it will inform our policy work we have several Active cases and we have not hesitated to act when the evidence has been presented.

>> U.S attorney Philip salinger's office charged the Bloomfield firebombing in Lakewood attack suspects.

>> We have also charged when there are threats of violence an individual last year who was alleged to have published the manifesto threatening to blow up synagogues prosecutions are >> Katz wants more to build stronger alliances with local police departments and school boards and educate kids about the dangers of radicalization I'm Brenda Flanagan NJ Spotlight news.

>> We continue our investigation into the Patterson apartment.

NJ Spotlight News analyze use of force by the department and found disproportionate rates against black and brown people in comparison to law enforcement in New Jersey as a whole.

Our editor is with me now to explain what she found.

You dug into the numbers.

What stuck out to you?

When you look at the number of interactions that resulted in fatal force, 55% of those involved black people and that compares with 45% statewide for Hispanics, 17% which compares with 9% statewide.

Those numbers I think are something that should be questioned and looked into.

Those were a little bit better than this audit that was done in 2020.

The results were released last year by an outside group but they are still higher than the state average.

When you look at the average of Patterson and you consider in particular the force used against Blacks, the Patterson population is only 40% black so when you look at foot -- 53% of force used against Blacks, that leads to some questions.

>> It is a diverse city.

Does that account for why we are seeing discrepancies?

The population is largely Hispanic and black.

>> There were about 20% of force incidents against whites and the population is only 7% white.

That is something that makes sense.

It is a very diverse city.

When you look at the idea that less than one quarter of the population is black but more than half of the force used was against black individuals, that is something again that leads to some questions.

>> Is displaying into calls from social justice groups for federal investigation, federal oversight?

Have they looked into this data?

>> Right.

Folks involved have known or have been complaining for a while about the Police Department in some of their methods and the way they use force.

Now you have a whole bunch of social justice groups involved they are looking at this data and that is behind their calls for social justice.

It seems like this would make their case.

What the Justice Department is going to decide, we probably will not know for a while.

>> Where does it go from here because we know that Patterson's mayor is vehemently opposed to any type of info -- intervention.

>> The Department of Justice is going to look at all of this data.

They will also look at the fact that there have been seven people in total killed by Patterson police since 2015.

That is the same amount as New Jersey State police for the entire state during that time.

It is second only to Newark that is had eight deaths and that is the state's largest city.

They will look for essentially a pattern of police actions that are potentially concerning.

I am not sure that the mayor gets to have a say in.

We do have some state legislators who are also calling for the to take a look at this and if the department thinks that there is a problem or pattern, that is certainly something they would probably wind up time to get involved with.

Thank you.

You can go deeper by going to the website.

Legislators hammered the CEO of TikTok with questions.

Washington is considering a nationwide ban of the app and how to rein in the power of social media platform that has more than 150 million U.S. users.

Congressman Frank Pallone is a ranking member on the House energy and commerce committee and joins me now from Washington, D.C..

Yourself and the other members of the committee yesterday were largely concerned with the scope and scale of information collected by TikTok.

Did you all walk away anymore united in what to do next?

Rep. Pallone: I think we are united.

This is what I call our national data privacy bill or framework which we actually have from the previous Congress.

Now we think we can move on it.

That basically prevents TikTok and other social media platforms from gathering and selling information that they have gathered from you that you are not aware of.

Briana: There is existing legislation that would fix the problems or maybe some solutions to the problems that you discussed yesterday with the CEO .

Is there a political will to get that done now?

Rep. Pallone: I deftly think there is.

This applies only to TikTok, but I specifically act -- asked the CEO of TikTok if he will adhere to some of the things in that bill.

He did not say he would, but one of the things is that you can target advertising to anyone under 17, which is course what TikTok does.

They take your data then they sell advertising that is targeted to young people under 17.

Then I also said that one of the provisions in our bill is that you can't gather or use health information or location data unless the customer has affirmatively said you can.

Of course he would not agree to that either.

These are the types of things that if done would cause a lot of Democrats and Republicans to feel better about TikTok and other social media.

He would not agree to those things.

Briana: Is there a broader call to action?

We have spoken about some of the concerns surrounding especially for young people social media not just the data collection, but misinformation some of the videos that are put out there.

Is that about a broader call to action?

Rep. Pallone: It is and a lot of the discussion with TikTok which was legitimately because we believe they are closely owned by members of the Chinese Communist Party based in Beijing, that is a separate issue that is particular for TikTok that needs to be addressed.

Some are calling for TikTok to be banned or sold to American investors so you don't have the problem.

Briana: Would you back a band like that?

Rep. Pallone: I didn't say that, although some of the Republicans did.

Ethic we have to look into it.

One of the options is they would force them to sell it to American investors and they would be based here and there investors would be American so you wouldn't have influence of the Chinese Communist Party.

I didn't say I am an advocate or for a total ban, that's a separate issue from the data privacy issue which is much more broad as you mentioned.

Briana: Congressman Frank Polo, thank you so much for your time.

Rep. Pallone: Thank you.

Briana: The state is going after a number of big-name polluters against the Dow Chemical Company and other companies for widespread contamination of drinking water by a potentially cancer-causing chemical.

The state is accusing the companies of manufacturing, selling and promoting products containing 1,4-dioxane for decades in NJ, despite knowing it was harmful and would pollute drinking water.

1,4-dioxane is considered a likely humankind sin and and was used primarily from the 1950's through the 1990's as an industrial metal cleaner.

Their 490 sites throughout the state that have detected the toxic chemical and groundwater samples including at the Ringwood minds where there are concerns it could contaminate the river which provides drinking water for millions of people across North Jersey.

In our spotlight on business reports and I, New Jersey is on the brink of a key change that could affect how you search for a job.

Lawmakers considered a bill that would require salary information on job postings.

If it passes, New Jersey would be the sixth state to mandate those salary ranges before you apply.

Salary range disclosures are already mandated in New York and Connecticut, but some business groups attempt at more transparency could backfire.

>> I actually think it's a big waste of time for both uh job Seekers and uh businesses to go through you know the application process the interview process maybe a second interview only to get to a point where you discuss salary and find out that your miles apart in your expectations.

>> So assemblyman Paul Moriarty is sponsoring a bill that would require New Jersey employers to disclose salary ranges on job postings for businesses with five or more employees.

>> It doesn't have to be the exact salary it could be we're willing to pay between forty and eighty thousand dollars forty thousand might be the range for someone that just got out of school that needs some seasoning and 80 000 might be what you'll pay if you can find a qualified candidate with a lot of experience I think that's fair.

>> The measure would also require businesses to include what promotional opportunities are associated with the job listing if the bill becomes law New Jersey will become the sixth state in the country to mandate page transparency following in the nearby footsteps of New York and Connecticut we understand that this is a national Trend and that the legislature wants to try to address this issue as a pay Equity standard we're just recommending that we proceed with caution right now just because we see that in a lot of other states sometimes the pay range is very pretty widely for various reasons.

>> Alexis Bailey vice president of government Affairs for the New Jersey business and industry Association believes the legislature should see how things pan out in other states where salary transparency is already law before trying to pass the measure in New Jersey.

She is concerned the Mandate could lead to unintended issues on the private right of action provision that really opens up employers to litigation on any aggrieved person that if they're seeing a job application that doesn't properly list the salary range now they can file a lawsuit against employers which we think is you know a little bit of an overreach.

>> There is also concerns when it comes to trying to close the gender pay Gap according to the Pew research Center women in the U.S make about 82 cents for every dollar earned by a man it's even worse for women of color with black women earning 70 percent as much as white men and Hispanic women earning 65 percent as much.

In fact a recent report from the Rutgers Center for Women and work found Latinas in New Jersey faced the second highest wage Gap in the country.

Jana Rogers is worried the Mandate won't address this issue .

>> One of the main intentions which I being at the Center for Women and work really a champion is that they close the gender pay Gap and that they also close racial pay gaps and the research is showing that this is happening which is a good thing but it's not happening because the wages of women and underrepresented groups are rising it's because the wages at the top are falling because of these transparency laws.

>> Assembly labor committee held a hearing yesterday to discuss arguments over the transparency mandates assemblywoman Brittany Timberlake is sponsoring a similar bill that would apply to companies with 10 or more employees.

Lawmakers and members of the business Community say they're looking forward to working with each other to find an agreeable solution.

>> Here's a look at how the markets closed for the week.

♪ >> 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.

>> Be sure to tune in to NJ business be this weekend.

We highlight that important role Latina women play in the business role.

Growing their businesses and reaching executive positions.

Watch it here Saturday and Sunday.

Briana: Tonight is the night for Princeton.

Another historic New Jersey run in the NCAA men's tournament.

The Tigers are playing in the sick -- sweet 16.

The team was all but dormant two years ago and now only the fourth Ivy League team to ever make this part.

The team is in Louisville, Kentucky for their matchup with Creighton.

Ted Goldberg is there and it looks more more like New Jersey is a Cinderella state.

>> You can call New Jersey the Garden State, Cinderella state, whatever you want.

If Princeton wins tonight, you can call it the state that has produced elite eight teams and back-to-back seasons.

We all are member the run the St. Peter's went on last season.

Tonight Princeton plays in its first sweet 16 in decades.

Plenty made the trip to Louisville to see the Tigers try to continue their surprising run.

>> A lot of shock I would say to be honest.

Last weekend, we were traveling with the women's basketball team supporting them and we were watching adamantly from a restaurant.

The men's basketball team that ended up scaring away everyone else.

We were very excited.

>> I watch March Madness every year.

It's so cool.

This year being a part of the Cinderella story is like an insane experience.

>> On the plane everybody was cheering for the Tigers.

People from Atlanta were flying up.

>> Who knew, I couldn't help but keep following.

>> My wife and I have really enjoyed the experience watching the team grow.

Play a lot of games and through the trials and tribulations they had to go through as a team.

These are a great group of kids, coaches, and staff.

>> Watching them come along and exceed expectations has been spectacular.

It is always nice being the underdog.

Everybody cheers for you.

>> It seems that everybody wants to be part of the Princeton pride.

Senator Cory Booker Facetimed the team.

>> There are stars galore at our university.

Economics professors, chemistry professors and it's fun to see our guys recognized as celebrities.

It is a life-changing moment for our group.

Three weeks ago, we were fighting for our life to make the Ivy League tournament.

Appreciating being present here is really special.

>> I feel fortunate to have audiences from both sides.

They have felt the love especially since the tournament started and before that as well.

It has been great.

Being able to have an impact on the younger generation.

>> This week is awesome.

It is the best busy I have ever been in my life getting tens of ticket requests, media requests for our players and coaches.

It is all wonderful.

The world is getting to see what I have known about Princeton for a while.

This is a special place for special people.

>> Just in case the seniors didn't have enough to worry about, they are all working on their senior thesis paper due in just a few short weeks.

At least one economics professor traveled with the team to help players get through that.

Tonight, everybody is focused on this game and trying to help the Tigers advance to the elite eight.

Briana: Thank you.

Let's go Tigers.

That's going to do it for us tonight.

Be sure to check out reporters roundtable this weekend.

David talks with Republican state Senator Holly ship easy about the elections transparency act.

Then a conversation with a law and policy director about her views on the same subject.

Watch Saturday and Sunday both right here.

A reminder, you can also listen to NJ Spotlight News any time via podcast.

Make sure you download it and check us out.

I'm Briana Vannozzi Thank you for being with us, have a great weekend.

We will see you right back here on Monday.

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