Mr Paterson said he understood the activists' frustrations as he stood with the slain man's fiancee and the Rev Al Sharpton, who were among the demonstrators arrested, although the governor stopped short of endorsing their actions.

Mr Sean Bell was gunned down hours before he was to be married in November 2006.

The 50 shots officers used - one officer fired 31 bullets, emptying and reloading his gun - stirred complaints about police tactics, and the acquittals on April 25 prompted some activists to question the prospects of justice for minorities. Mr Bell was black as were two of his friends wounded in the shooting; the officers are black, Hispanic and white.

Mr Paterson, New York's first black governor, said on Thursday he would explore undercover officer procedures, saying the advocates had suggested plainclothes officers should not suddenly 'change the script' and act as police.

He also said he would consider potential state-wide legislation compelling officers to take sobriety tests after some shootings, such as those in which police fire at people who prove to be unarmed. The New York Police Department last year began requiring such tests when officers kill or wound someone.

Mr Bell and his friends were shot as they left his bachelor party at a Queens strip club. The officers, who were undercover investigating alleged prostitution at the club, said they believed Mr Bell and his friends were about to get a gun; no firearm was found. Mr Bell's friends said that the police shot without warning, which the officers denied. -- AP