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South Coast Police Department Loses Officer

Santa Barbara Police Department image
A Santa Barbara Police officer has died following an illness.

Decade plus department veteran has died from what's being described as "complications from on-duty illness."

A South Coast police department is in mourning over the death of an officer.

Santa Barbara Police officials say Gina Battaglia died of what they called complications from an on-duty illness.

The department didn’t release details on the cause of death.

Battaglia had been with the department for 14 years, serving in capacities from a patrol officer to crime scene investigator.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.