Startling image of London riots highlighted

The photograph of Miss Konczyk, 32, jumping from her home has become one of the most startling images of the riots here, it was reported Saturday. She told the media she had come to London to seek a better life but was nearly killed in the blaze in Croydon. Monika Konczyk was forced to leap out of her flat window as a fire raged during the riots in Croydon. "I came to England because I thought it was a great country full of kind and gentle people. I thought London was a civilised society full of gentlemen and ladies. But it is not like that. England has become a sick society," she told The Sun newspaper. "I found myself jumping for my life after being attacked by thugs and thieves. They set fire to my building without any thought for anyone's safety. "They were happy for me to die. They were like animals, greedy selfish animals who thought only of themselves." She screamed "I'm going to die" before leaping 14 feet to safety. She said: "If you want a new TV you don't smash up windows to loot them, you work to pay for them," she said. The shopworker jumped from the first floor window of her flat, close to the inferno of Reeves furniture shop, into the arms of a Metropolitan Police riot officer as violent thugs rampaged through the streets. Her comments echo Prime Minster David Cameron's statement in the wake of the riots that elements of British society are "sick". "There are pockets of our society that are not only broken, but frankly sick it is a complete lack of responsibility in parts of our society, people allowed to feel that the world owes them something," he said last Wednesday. In a related development, British Police and politicians were embroiled again today in a bitter war of words over the handling of the devastating riots that swept England. Cameron was forced to play down tensions after senior officers hit back at criticism of their response to the crisis. Acting Metropolitan Police Commissioner Tim Godwin complained of negative comments from people who "weren't there" when the violence began - an apparent criticism of politicians, such as the Prime Minister, who were on holiday, commentators said. And Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, dismissed the idea that ministers deserved credit for quelling the disturbances. The row erupted with police across the country still on high alert despite relative calm over the past couple of days. The "surge" on the streets of London is expected to be maintained until at least next week. Courts are working through the weekend to clear a huge backlog of cases involving those suspected of looting and other offences. Some 1,600 people have now been arrested, with around 800 already having appeared before magistrates. According to government figures, two-thirds of those charged have been remanded into custody rather than bailed while they wait for cases to be heard. Only 122 of the individuals who have gone to court so far are under 18 - despite speculation that children were behind much of the trouble. Cameron risked inflaming tensions further yesterday by telephoning former New York police chief Bill Bratton. A Downing Street spokeswoman said: "The Prime Minister spoke to Bill Bratton to thank him for agreeing to make himself available for a series of meetings in the UK in the autumn to share his experience of tackling gangs while police chief in Boston, New York and Los Angeles. "As the Prime Minister said in his statement to Parliament yesterday, he is keen for the Government to draw on experience and expertise developed in other countries as well as in the UK. "Bill Bratton, who has long-standing links with British policing, will be providing this advice in a personal capacity and on an unpaid basis." The former policeman told the media: "This is a Prime Minister who has a clear idea of what he wants to do. "He sees this crisis as a way to bring change. The police force there can be a catalyst for that. I'm very optimistic." The American had been tipped as a potential next Scotland Yard commissioner, but Home Secretary Theresa May is believed to have insisted candidates should be British. Meanwhile, a poll carried out in the aftermath of the riots suggested the public is not happy with their leaders' performance during the crisis. The survey by YouGov for the commercial TV station Channel 4 News found that 84% believed the police had not been "tough enough" and 71% thought politicians had handled the crisis badly. Reassuringly for Cameron, though, it seems blame for the unrest is not being pinned on Government austerity policies. More than a fifth (21%) said it was purely criminal behaviour and another 13% pointed the finger at gang culture, while only 7% cited social inequality and 5% cuts. For his part, Chancellor, Finance secretary, George Osborne backed Bratton's analysis and said deep-seated social issues, not the impact of planned police budget cuts, should be the focus for debate. "We are committed to the plan we have set out for police reform. And it is about reform, about improving the presence of the police in our communities, making the police more visible," he told the BBC Radio. "There are very deep-seated social problems which we need to tackle. There are communities that have just been left behind by the rest of the country, there are communities cut off from the economic lifeblood of the rest of the country. "I don't think the debate should be reduced to whether there should be x-thousand numbers of police officers or x-thousand-plus-one numbers of police officers in our society. "We want an effective police service. They have done an amazing job this week. We want to use the advice of people like Bill Bratton to really tackle some of the deep-seated social issues like gang culture. "But this is not just about police budgets; this is about a far bigger challenge for our society, which is dealing with people who we have ignored for too long and helping them feel they have a stake in society."