'Beloved' Retired K9 Cop From Montgomery County Passes Away

UPPER MORELAND, PA — A former member of the local police force who served as a K9 handler for much of his law enforcement career has passed away.

The Upper Moreland Police Department this week announced the recent death of Steve Curley, a retired township police officer who for more than 30 years "worked tirelessly as a K9 officer," the department stated in a social media post announcing the death.

A cause of death was not released.

"To the Officers at UMPD, he leaves a legacy of hard work, dedication, bravery and sass that could never be duplicated and will never be forgotten," the department stated on Facebook. "Officer Curley had a tremendous impact on every one of us that knew him."

The department said that Curley was a frequent recipient of various awards and accolades, many of them related to what officials called the retired officer's "top notch DUI enforcement."

In a letter to the editor published on Patch back in January 2012, the local police chief at the time, Thomas Nestel, thanked Curley for his decades of service as he was preparing to retire around that time, calling Curley's wealth of experience and work ethic "admirable," and saying Curley served as a role model for young officers who were coming up through the police force.

Nestel left Upper Moreland months later to become the police chief for SEPTA, the mass transit agency for the Greater Philadelphia region.

Curley was the reported recipient of seven Top Gun awards, which are honors presented to police officers who make 50 or more DUI arrests in a single year.

Curley was known to have the highest DUI conviction rate of any officer in Upper Moreland.

Curley served as a K9 handler for decades, up until the time his dog passed away back in 2010, two years before Curley retired from the force.

Patch previously reported that a plaque was installed at the Upper Moreland Police Department in honor of Zeus, Curley's canine dog who served the department for nine years, from September 2001 to October 2010, at the time of his passing.

An official obituary did not yet appear to be available for Curley.