A group of Miami-Dade police officers was disciplined following a 2010 internal affairs investigation, police documents showed.

Five police officers and one sergeant with the Kendall squad were allegedly caught on camera ignoring emergency dispatch calls.

The video, obtained by NBC 6 South Florida, shows incidents like one on Oct. 5, 2010 where Officer Dario Socarras apparently ignored a residential burglary call and chose to meet a woman at the Dadeland Mall parking lot.

The video shows the officer hugging and kissing the woman in what the police investigation calls a public display of affection.

That is classified as departmental misconduct or conduct unbecoming of an officer, according to police.

A little later that day, Officer Socarras, Officer Jose Huerta and their Sergeant Jennifer Gonzalez were videotaped drinking coffee at a Casa Larios when an emergency call came in with an alert about an unconscious 5-month-old, police said in investigation records obtained by NBC 6.

Socarras was dispatched to the scene and despite being with his sergeant, he continued drinking his coffee. Nine minutes later he was cleared from the call, according to police.

Moments later the dispatcher asked Socarras to check out a signal 37, or a suspicious vehicle. He said in a radio transmission that he was en route, but investigators said it took him 25 minutes to respond.

At the end of the investigation, Sgt. Gonzalez and officers Socarras, Huerta, Ivan Tomas, Fabian Owens and Jeffrey Price all received a relief of duty memorandum dated Dec. 28, 2010.

Read more from NBCMiami.com

Officer Socarras, who was also accused of doctoring reports to reflect that he had responded to the calls, wrote a memo to his lieutenant saying that at no time did he intentionally violate departmental rules or regulations.

Socarras, Huerta and Gonzalez have been fired by the Miami-Dade Police Department, according to the internal affairs report. Several more officers have been disciplined and some were expected to appeal their punishment.

The Dade County Police Benevolent Association said it was waiting for the disciplinary process to conclude before it comments, and Miami-Dade Police said it was not commenting on the investigation.

Miami-Dade resident Jeff Bretzer said he was upset that some officers were not upholding their duty to protect and serve.

"If I have a reason to call the police and they're not that responsive or if they weren't in a timely fashion, it just wouldn't be much use," he said.

But Bretzer said he was pleased the Miami-Dade Police Department looked into officers' responsiveness.

"You want to think that they are going to be doing something to correct the problem that is going on," he said.

Updated at 9:30 p.m. ET: Crews responded Monday to a crane hanging from the side of a luxury high-rise under construction in the heart of midtown Manhattan as New York began feeling the effects of approaching Superstorm Sandy.

Police have shut down traffic and evacuated the upper floors of buildings in the area around the building on West 57th Street, although there were no immediate plans to remove the crane because of the danger, WNBC reported. Officials were studying the situation and trying to decide how to deal with it.

The building, known as One 57, will be Manhattan's tallest residential tower when completed, at 90 stories. It already has gained a reputation as a new haven for billionaires who have been paying up to $90 million for choice apartments.

Passers-by stared in amazement and apprehension while some stopped to take pictures of the building.

"It's fascinating, I saw it on TV and came out to see it," Sam O' Keeffe, 25, a bartender who lives in the neighborhood, told Reuters. "But it's also scary. If it happened there, who knows where else it could happen?"

Firefighters closed streets for several blocks surrounding the site, evacuated 300 apartments in three buildings and were preparing to evacuate more.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the crane had been inspected on Friday, as other construction cranes had ahead of the storm, and that the cause of the accident remained unknown. Engineers went to the top of the building to examine the crane but stopped short of attempting any repairs, officials said.

"It's conceivable that nobody did anything wrong whatsoever and it wasn't even a malfunction, it was just a strange gust of wind," Bloomberg told a news conference.

"Just because it was inspected, that doesn't mean that God doesn't do things or that metal doesn't fail. There's no reason to think at this point in time that the inspection wasn't adequate," he said.

The crane swayed at the top of the building as the city was largely shut down ahead of the expected arrival of the massive hurricane slamming the East Coast and affecting up to 60 million people in nine states. The storm made landfall in New Jersey Monday evening.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Watch live: NBC camera shows crane boom dangling

WASHINGTON -- A growing number of families in the United States are struggling to put food on the table as poverty rises in major cities, a new survey showed on Thursday.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors' 2011 hunger and homelessness survey found all but four of the 29 cities surveyed reported an increase in requests for emergency food assistance during the period between September 2010 and August 2011.

Half of those asking for emergency food assistance were people in families, while 26 percent were employed. The elderly accounted for 19 percent, with the homeless making up the remaining 11 percent.

This is the latest survey to underscore the magnitude of the damage inflicted by the 2007-09 recession.

Though the downturn ended 2-1/2 years ago, the recovery has been very slow by historical standards as households struggle to repair their balance sheets and unemployment is at an uncomfortably high 8.6 percent.

About 24.4 million Americans are either out of work or underemployed and employment remains 6.3 million jobs below its level in December 2007 when the recession started.

According to government data, a record 49.1 million Americans were living in poverty in 2010.

During that period, the number of households depending on food stamps - subsidies that help people cover the costs of groceries - soared 16 percent to 13.6 million.

The mayors' survey attributed unemployment, poverty, low wages and high housing costs as the main reasons behind the surge in demand for food assistance.

It found there was a 10 percent average increase in the amount of food being distributed by the cities and just over two-thirds of the cities reported a rise in the quantities they were handing out.

About 71 percent of cities said their total budget for emergency food purchases had gone up. Across the 29 cities, 27 percent of the people requiring emergency food assistance did not receive it, the survey found.

In 86 percent of the cities, food pantries and emergency kitchens had to reduce the quantities of food people could receive per visit or the amount of food offered per meal.

None of the cities expected demand for food assistance to decline over the next year. Many anticipated a drop in the resources to provide food assistance, citing cuts in government funding and declining food donations by the public.

The survey also found that homelessness increased by an average of six percent across the 29 cities.

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Whether you've using the Internet or a cell phone (smart or dumb), here's how you can track Hurricane Irene, access the American Red Cross through Facebook and Twitter, schedule news alerts, connect with others and find loved ones. 

Where to follow Hurricane Irene online

• Msnbc.com's hurricane tracker
• The Weather Channel's hurricane tracker
• The New York Times' hurricane tracking map
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's website
• The Google Crisis Response Center
• NASA's Earth Observatory
• Your local TV or newspaper sites

Online support forums

• American Red Cross Safe and Well:  Register yourself as “Safe and Well” and search for loved ones who have registered  on the website as well.
• The Hurricane Irene network: Allows users to share ideas, report problems and give praise, and includes a handy set of links to evacuation maps and disaster preparedness information. 
• Reddit Irene forum: Members of the popular news and image-sharing site share first-hand accounts, trade information, seek help and elevate stress via the community's legendary wise-cracking.

Resource pages on Facebook

• Hurricane Irene: State Resources
• The American Red Cross
• Department of Homeland Security (for shelter locations and information)
• Global Disaster Relief page, a "hub for preparedness, response and relief information."
• National Weather Service
• FBI Tips on Avoiding Fraudulent Charitable Contribution Schemes
• Hurricane Irene Community page
• Share Your Story 

Twitter accounts to follow

• @twc_hurricane: The Weather Channel’s hurricane central account shares the latest updates on Irene’s location.
• @NYCMayorsOffice: Official info for New Yorkers on evacuations, transportation and more.
• @FEMA and @CraigatFEMA: Preparation tips and the latest updates on Hurricane #Irene.
• @RedCross: American Red Cross Twitter account.
• @HumaneSociety: Up-to-date info on pet and animal assistance.

Get Hurricane Irene alerts on your computer or phone (whether it's smart or dumb)

Fast Follow on Twitter:Use this feature as "the quickest way to begin receiving updates from a Twitter source on your mobile device. You do not need to sign up for a Twitter account in order to receive updates directly to your mobile phone. For example, to follow FEMA (@fema), all you need to do is text ‘follow fema’ to 40404" in the United States. You can do the same with any Twitter account by sending the text message of "Follow (username)" to 40404. You can learn more about Fast Follow here.

Set SMS alerts on Twitter:"From your computer, wherever you see a user on Twitter.com, you can hover over their name or avatar, and click on the phone icon that appears in the hovercard. Whenever they tweet, you'll get it as an SMS message on your phone."

You can learn more about Twitter ast Follow and Set SMS Alerts here.

Facebook has a "Facebook for Every Phone" program that it says is "faster" to use than its own mobile site.

The social networking giant says on its Help Center Web pagethat the "Facebook for Every Phone" program, or app, can be obtained from one of three places:

1.  The app may be preloaded onto your phone.

2.  You may find the app in your phone's app store (for example: GetJar [or your own carrier's on-phone store]).

3.  The app is also hosted on our mobile site — you can download it from m.facebook.com.

If for some reason your phone doesn't support the mobile app (most but not all do), you can always try the Facebook mobile site itself, at m.facebook.com.

Mobile apps to help in a hurricane

• Disaster Prep (iPhone only): Covers disaster kit checklists, a personal medical record database, reminders every six months to check/rotate kit supplies, family emergency plan forms, insurance and vehicle information, as well as first aid and basic CPR.
• Federal Emergency Management Agency (Android only): Features interactive checklist for emergency kits, a section to plan emergency meeting locations, information on how to stay safe during and in the aftermath of a disaster, a map with FEMA Disaster Recovery Center locations and shelters.
• Shelter View by American Red Cross (iPhone only): Provides map locations and shelter details across the United States.
• Gas Buddy (iPhone, Android): Maps the closest gas stations to you, it'll tell you how much you'll expect to pay.
• Poynt (iPhone, Android): Finds nearby businesses based on your search specifications, people, restaurants, gas stations, events and movies.
• S.O.S by American Red Cross (Android only): Step-by-step video narration by Dr. Oz (yes, Dr. Oz, from the show) on 50 common emerency care situations and allows users to follow along with demos; and 3-D animations, audio and visual counters for real time CPR compressions.
• ICE: Emergency Contact  (Android, similar apps are available for iPhone): Sends SMS alerts to all your saved contacts and call rescue workers if you're in trouble and need help immediately. Saves useful medical information for rescue workers (allergies, medications, pre-existing conditions, your identity, organ donor status, blood type, etc.) and emergency contacts.
• BuddyGuard VIP (iPhone only): Primarily billed as a way to protect your iPhone in case of theft, it records "images, audio and your GPS location and sends them to a server in the cloud. It's like your own black box." But it goes the extra step in sending alerts to friends, family, or whoever you designate, if you fail to check in at the time you set.
• Disaster Alert by Pacific Disaster Center (iPhone, Android): Runs down a listing and an interactive map of "Active Hazards" occurring around the globe, that includes (but is not limited to) hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, tsunamis and volcanoes. 

Hurricane Irene: How to help
Several organizations are helping victims of Hurricane Irene. Here's what you can do.

—compiled by Helen A.S. Popkin

For more on Hurricane Irene

• No smartphone for Irene? You can still use Twitter, Facebook
• 'Come On Irene': The music video
• For Hurricane Irene, Newark mayor Cory Booker has your back
• See Hurricane Irene through the eyes of iPhone users

Screenshot from "Disaster Prep" app

As someone who's been through a few hurricanes, and who has several emergency kits ready to go, I can tell you there are far more resources now than ever. Before you start knocking heads over that last bottle of water in the grocery aisle, try downloading these free mobile apps in preparation for the coming storm. They might make all the difference in the world as Irene — or any disaster — approaches. 

Disaster Prep (iPhone only): Fairly comprehensive in its scope, this app covers disaster kit checklists, a personal medical record database, reminders every six months to check/rotate kit supplies, family emergency plan forms, insurance and vehicle information, as well as first aid and basic CPR. Also a bonus, if and when you have more time: The ability to import photos and PDF files of EKGs, X-rays, lab results and other medical information. (Nicely done, San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department Emergency Preparedness Office!)

Screenshot of "FEMA" app

Federal Emergency Management Agency (Android only): Another comprehensive app that features an interactive checklist for emergency kits, a section to plan emergency meeting locations, information on how to stay safe during and in the aftermath of a disaster, a map with FEMA Disaster Recovery Center locations (one-stop centers where disaster survivors can access key relief services) and shelters, general ways the public can get involved before and after a disaster, and if that's not enough reading for you, the FEMA blog.

Shelter View by American Red Cross (iPhone only): This app gives lets users map locations and shelter details across the United States. They can zoom in to the local area and view details on each shelter, such as which agency is managing the shelter, its capacity and current population, the disaster event and the specific shelter address and location. The info comes via the American Red Cross National Shelter System (NSS), which includes 60,000 potential disaster facilities.

Screenshot of American Red Cross' "Shelter View" app

More than likely, you're also trying to find resources to stock up on to fill those lists, like food and gas. So definitely download these to help you:

Gas Buddy (iPhone, Android): This app not only will map the closest gas stations to you, it'll tell you how much you'll expect to pay. We know beggars can't be choosers when demand is so high, but at least this way, you have options. 

Poynt (iPhone, Android): Like the name suggests, this app points you to nearby businesses based on your search specifications, people, restaurants, gas stations, events and movies, should you feel like it's all too much and you need to get away for a few hours of reality-free, storm-free life. 

Screenshot of step-by-step video instruction on the "S.O.S" app

During a crisis, you never know what may come up, and you may not have access to health care providers as soon as you like, since they're likely to be deployed to the heart of the emergency. Even if you know basic first aid, it doesn't hurt to have something like this on hand:

S.O.S by American Red Cross (Android only): Step-by-step video narration by Dr. Oz (yes, Dr. Oz, from the show) on 50 common emerency care situations and allows users to follow along with demos; and 3-D animations, audio and visual counters for real time CPR compressions.

ICE: Emergency Contact  (Android, similar apps are available for iPhone): With one click (a widget on your home screen), you can send SMS alerts to all your saved contacts and call rescue workers if you're in trouble and need help immediately. You can save useful medical information for rescue workers (allergies, medications, pre-existing conditions, your identity, organ donor status, blood type, etc.) and contact the right people "in case of emergency." (Get it?)

Screenshot of the "ICE" widget on an Android home screen

BuddyGuard VIP (iPhone only): Primarily billed as a way to protect your iPhone in case of theft, it records "images, audio and your GPS location and sends them to a server in the cloud. It's like your own black box." But it goes the extra step in sending alerts to friends, family, or whoever you designate, if you fail to check in at the time you set.

If Irene and the earthquake before it got you a little jumpy for the next disaster, consider downloading this so you'll see what's coming in plenty of time before it strikes:

Disaster Alert by Pacific Disaster Center (iPhone, Android): It runs down a listing and an interactive map of "Active Hazards" occurring around the globe, that includes (but is not limited to) hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, tsunamis and volcanoes. 

Related stories:

• How to track Hurricane Irene online
• Hey Irene, can you hear me now?
•  'Come On Irene': The music video

Check out Technolog on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the Google+ stream.