Gov. David Paterson issued an executive order Thursday creating a special task force to investigate officer-on-officer shootings like the one that killed a Mount Vernon police officer in 2008.

The nine-member task force, composed of former police officers, criminologists and psychologists, will look at issues that arise when off-duty and on-duty officers confront each other. They will also examine the role of race in these confrontations.

Paterson says the goal of the new task force is to prevent future friendly fire incidents by looking at past cases, including the shooting of NYPD Officer Omar Edwards and Mount Vernon Police Officer Christopher Ridley.

Ridley was killed in White Plains at the hands of four police officers while trying to break up a fight.

The panel will also examine police training, technology, equipment and various psychological factors.

Mount Vernon Police Commissioner David Chong says the key is to make sure that all officers get the same training so they can react the same way to encounters.

Paterson is expected to receive his first report from the task force in six months.