State Security Director Leaving

After only six months on the job, former FBI official Ronald L. Iden will resign as state director of homeland security to head worldwide security operations for Walt Disney Co., it was learned Friday.

“It’s been a tremendous honor serving with the governor and serving in his administration,” the 57-year-old Iden said.

In a July 9 letter, Iden thanked Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for appointing him to the state post after Iden retired from the FBI in January.

“I must, however, regretfully inform you of my decision to leave

During his brief tenure, Iden wrote, he was pleased to have “put into place a plan and framework” for the homeland security office that “will ensure that an aggressive security posture will be pursued and maintained in the months and years ahead.”

Although Iden proposed a departure date of Aug. 1, he said he would stay on until a successor is named.

“The governor appreciates his service and wishes him well,” said Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Ashley Snee.

Under the governor’s proposed budget, the homeland security office -- created last year -- would be doubled to include about a dozen positions.

A 25-year FBI veteran, Iden was in charge of its Los Angeles division, third-largest in the bureau, for two years, taking over just weeks after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Before his appointment to head the Los Angeles office and its 1,100 employees, Iden was one of three special agents in charge of the division, with responsibility for investigations involving terrorism, foreign counterintelligence, financial crimes and civil rights violations.

A native of Chicago, Iden joined the FBI in 1978 after 10 years with the Elk Grove, Ill., Police Department.

In the next few years, he investigated the assassination of a federal judge and the attempted murder of a federal prosecutor in San Antonio. Years later, at FBI headquarters in Washington, Iden supervised investigations that led to convictions in the murder of a federal judge in Birmingham, Ala., and a civil rights attorney in Savannah, Ga.

At FBI headquarters, Iden served as chief of the public corruption unit and the information resources division, overseeing the technology used by the bureau around the world.

In his new job as a senior vice president for Disney, Iden will oversee security for the corporation’s holdings, including theme parks, cruise ships and the ABC and ESPN television networks.

ABC President Robert A. Iger said Iden will be charged with creating “an even higher level of security standards for Disney guests and employees.”

Times staff writers David Rosenzweig and Richard Verrier contributed to this report.