Senior writer Doug Smith scouts Los Angeles for the ragged edges where public policy meets real people, combining data analysis and gumshoe reporting to tell L.A. stories through his more than 50 years of experience covering the city. As past database editor from 2004 through 2015, he hunted down and analyzed data for news and investigative projects. Besides “Grading the Teachers,” he contributed to investigations of construction abuse in the community college system and the rising toll of prescription drug overdoses. Smith has been at The Times since 1970, covering local and state government, criminal justice, politics and education. He was the lead writer for Times’ coverage of the infamous North Hollywood shootout, winner of a 1997 Pulitzer Prize. Between 2005 and 2008, Smith made five trips to Iraq on loan to our foreign desk.
Latest From This Author
For more than 100 years, single-room occupancy hotels have housed thousands of people in Skid Row. Now, L.A. leaders are saying their time has passed. Some fear losing them will displace their formerly homeless residents.
March 19, 2024
A leak purportedly exposed systemic failures of Los Angeles’ anti-camping law, reigniting a debate on the City Council. The reality on the streets is more complex.
March 7, 2024
After two years in a locked psychiatric facility, John Maurer has moved into a board and care home, a step forward that couldn’t have happened without relentless advocacy by his politically-connected sister.
March 1, 2024
After two youth brawls last year, Del Amo Fashion Center soon will require minors to be accompanied by an adult after 3 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Feb. 25, 2024
Touting four years of declining homelessness, the city has released its preliminary numbers for 2024, months before the official count comes out in late spring or early summer. The city counted 51 homeless people, down from 239 in 2020.
Feb. 13, 2024
Lawyers alleging in suit that L.A. failed to shelter homeless people are asking a federal judge to fine the city for allegedly failing to comply with a settlement.
Feb. 14, 2024
A statewide survey found that 1 in 5 unhoused women had lost their housing due to violence by an intimate partner. Many were victimized again while homeless.
Jan. 23, 2024
A courtroom drama pitting a colorful civil rights attorney against a volcanic former president before an unorthodox judge was on the docket in a Los Angeles federal court, but technicalities made it go away.
Jan. 16, 2024
A contractor with the state’s Project Homekey homeless housing program is accused of improperly borrowing money against seven projects, many of which are in danger of foreclosure.
Jan. 12, 2024
An affordable housing shortage has stymied efforts to get people off the streets. The dismal state of SROs leaves L.A.’s poorest with even fewer places to go.
Dec. 28, 2023