Police in New York arrested about 30 protesters including veteran civil rights activist Cornel West during a demonstration by the Occupy Wall Street movement.

A New York Police Department spokesman said the protesters were arrested on Friday because they were "blocking the entrance" of the local police precinct in New York's Harlem neighborhood. They were charged with "disorderly conduct."

Several hundred people were demonstrating in Harlem over the controversial police practice of stopping and patting down people to determine whether they are carrying arms, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

West, an outspoken Princeton University professor, was freed shortly after his arrest, according to an Occupy Wall Street video.

The movement organizes or supports demonstrations of varying sizes each day, in coordination with other local groups.

Occupy Wall Street was launched on September 17 and supporters have since camped out at a plaza in Manhattan's financial district to decry corporate greed and the growing rich-poor divide.