Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday signed a bill mandating that New York state troopers be equipped with body cameras and mandated to wear them while on patrol.

Last year, a nationwide Associated Press survey revealed that the agency was the largest state police agency in the United States not equipped with body or patrol cameras. 

The agency earlier this year reported it planned to go forward with a body camera pilot program for state troopers. The bill, though, requires the agency to provide body cameras.

"As one of the largest state police agencies in the country, the New York State Police should be one of the first agencies to set an example, to show others how to properly use body cams to deliver transparency and accountability to the public," said Assemblymember Latrice Walker, a sponsor of the legislation, in a statement.

The measure will help "bring to light" use of excessive force, she said in the statement.

"Body cameras will diminish the trust deficit between the police and communities they serve," said state Sen. Kevin Parker, another sponsor of the legislation, in a statement.

Cuomo's office reported he signed the legislation Tuesday. 

The legislation specifies that cameras should record all uses of force, all arrests and all interactions with people suspected of criminal activity, among other situations. 

It also allows the state attorney general to investigate when a body camera fails to record certain interactions.

The third-term governor also approved a bill to create a "law enforcement misconduct investigative office" within the state attorney general's office.

The mission of the office will be to audit, study, review and make recommendations on the policies, practices and operations of state and local law enforcement agencies, the legislation stipulates. 

A deputy attorney general will head the office. They will have subpoena power and be tasked with investigating complaints, according to the legislation.

The two bills were part of a larger package of police reforms passed by the Legislature following nationwide protests over police brutality and the killing of Black Americans by police.