A recent story on the TV news magazine, 60 Minutes, aired on January 27, 2008, discussed in detail with various industry experts the effects of the current residential real estate collapse and some well thought out theories as to why this may be happening. The most common occurrence of course is folks simply cannot afford the higher payments that came with adjustable mortgages which, in some cases, increased their payments as much as 25% to 50% greater than the original monthly payment. While the obvious financial issues remain, another aspect of the current downturn wasn't as obvious. During the 60 Minutes segment, one couple openly admitted that while they could afford the increased payments, it made no sense to continue to pay the mortgage and they planned to simply walk away from the home and let it go into foreclosure. Their reasoning was the value of their house dropped so much that they would most likely never see their home rise to the same level they purchased it at so why bother making payments on a house that would always be "upside down".

The 60 Minutes reporter asked them straight out, "But you signed a contract, understood the contract and agreed to make the payments. Doesn't it bother you that you're breaking a promise you made?"

The couple responded back very honestly, "No."

So what does this have to do with policing and fighting crime? Everything and nothing, depending on how you look at it. Going back to the 60 Minutes story, one analyst brought up an interesting point reflecting back in history. It wasn't too long ago when the companies that made loans for consumers were your traditional local banks, savings and loans, etc. where the branch manager actually knew the names and faces of their customers. Further, when that local bank made the loan, the loan actually stayed with and was serviced by the same branch. If a customer was late on their monthly payment, they would see the face of the very person who made them their loan every time they went into the branch to conduct banking business. It's kind of like borrowing $20.00 from a co-worker for lunch because you forgot your wallet, every day you see this person and are reminded, either directly or indirectly that you owe them $20.00. In some cases they may not let you forget either.