Denisse Salazar

Denisse Salazar is a staff writer for The Orange County Register covering local government. Over the years, she has also covered crime, courts, human trafficking and breaking news, such as team coverage of Orange County’s worst mass killing, which won first place in online breaking news from the California Newspaper Publishers Association (2011). Salazar has won local awards for her work. She graduated from Cal State Fullerton with a bachelor's degree in communications with an emphasis in journalism and a minor in Spanish. She earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from USC. For her Fellowship project, she will take a deep dive into the mental and physical and developmental effects of multi-generational gang violence on children in urban communities such as Santa Ana in Orange County.

Articles

(Photo: Mindy Schauer/Orange County Register)

Their stories of gang violence were heartbreaking, but I couldn’t always tell them

A reporter discusses the difficult decisions that have to be made between telling deeply personal stories of violence and loss, and respecting families' wishes for privacy and safety.

Community Safety

(Photo by Bill Alkofer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Health Equity & Social Justice

Community & Public Health

With 13,000 gang members in Orange County, the push is on to curb crime and recruitment

The effort is bringing together civic leaders, police, educators, community groups and religious leaders. The goals are to curb gang-related crime, help children stay out of gangs, and deal with emotional aftermath of violence.

Race and Equity

Community Safety

Hugo Secundino, 42, holds a weathered picture of his deceased son Angel.

Mental Health & Trauma

Community & Public Health

Here’s one Orange County family’s story of generational gang violence. Can the city’s latest efforts break the cycle?

The headlines generated by Angel Secundino's killing faded quickly. But his death links four generations still struggling with the regrets, emotional wreckage and fear that come when loved ones become immersed in the gang lifestyle.

Mental Health

Community Safety

How is gang violence damaging children and what can be done?

How is gang violence damaging children? To help answer that question, a reporter for the Orange County Register is following a family in Santa Ana, Calif. that has been touched by gang violence.

Immigrant and Migrant Health

Mental Health

Community Safety

Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG

Mental Health & Trauma

Community & Public Health

For gang victims, a program aimed at helping and healing

Those who work for Gang Victim Services are on call to detectives 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They often are the first to tell parents their son or daughter is dead.

Mental Health

Reporting Topics

Reporting Topics

Reporting Topics

Reporting Topics

Reporting Topics

Denisse Salazar

Articles

Their stories of gang violence were heartbreaking, but I couldn’t always tell them

With 13,000 gang members in Orange County, the push is on to curb crime and recruitment

Here’s one Orange County family’s story of generational gang violence. Can the city’s latest efforts break the cycle?

How is gang violence damaging children and what can be done?

For gang victims, a program aimed at helping and healing