LAPD’s Anti-Terrorist Division Leader Retires
Los Angeles Police Capt. John Cleghorn, commanding officer of the Police Department’s Anti-Terrorist Division and its scandal-plagued predecessor, the Public Disorder Intelligence Division, has retired, it was learned Monday.
Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, in a statement, described the 49-year-old Cleghorn as “an honorable, dedicated captain who did an outstanding job at PDID and ATD.”
Cleghorn, who was appointed to head the public disorder division in mid-1982, took over the post “at a very trying time that included being victimized by journalistic innuendo simply because he was there, and that may have had something to do with his decision to retire at this time,” Gates said.
He said Cleghorn “was welcome to stay with this department, and he would not have been moved from ATD.”
Cleghorn could not be reached Monday.
The public disorder division was the subject of a lawsuit by 131 individuals and organizations who said they were the targets of illegal surveillance and infiltration by division officers. The suit was settled out of court for $1.8 million and the division was disbanded and replaced by the Anti-Terrorist Division under tighter administrative controls.
Cleghorn will be replaced by Capt. Robert Smitson, 48, commander of the Hollywood Division.
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