Media Contact: Robert Mills
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: robert@jgpr.net
BURLINGTON — Chief Thomas Browne is pleased to report that the Burlington Police Department promoted two individuals on Monday evening, as Sgt. Christopher DiDonato was promoted to lieutenant and Officer Vito Costa was promoted to sergeant.
The promotion to lieutenant was made after a process that began in August with the hiring of an independent company — Public Safety Consultants, LLC — to run an assessment center for eligible candidates. From there, candidates moved to an interview stage where each was interviewed by Chief Browne, Deputy Chief Robert Kirchner, Assistant Town Administrator John Danizio, and Town Administrator Paul F. Sagarino, Jr.
Sgt. Christopher DiDonato came out on top of a highly competitive selection process and was promoted to lieutenant on Monday night.
Lt. DiDonato grew up in Burlington, graduated from Burlington High School, and has been with the department since 2012.
DiDonato is a combat veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, having served with the U.S. Army National Guard from 2008 to 2016. He is a trainer in use of force, firearms, defensive tactics, and de-escalation tactics. He has also been a member of the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council SWAT Team since 2018.
Lt. DiDonato has a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from UMass-Amherst, and a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Oklahoma. He has served as a sergeant since 2019.
“Chris is a highly respected member of the department who excelled as a sergeant, and I’m sure he will do great in his new position as a lieutenant,” said Chief Browne.
The sergeant’s position was filled by interviewing the top seven candidates who took the Burlington Police Sergeants Examination exam last year. Two of those seven have already been promoted, and four others were interviewed by the same panel that conducted lieutenant interviews.
Officer Vito Costa came out on top of another highly competitive process, and was promoted Monday night.
Sgt. Costa grew up in Burlington, graduated from Burlington High School, and has been with the department since 2007. Prior to joining Burlington Police, he spent two years serving as a sergeant with police at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
Since 2020, Costa has served as a School Resource Officer in the Middle School, and since August he has also overseen SROs in the high school and middle school due to an unexpected off the job injury suffered by another officer.
Costa has also been instrumental in helping the Burlington Police Department and Burlington Public Schools institutionalize the Standard Response Protocol for responding to emergency incidents in schools. He is a certified SRO through both the Municipal Police Training Committee and the Massachusetts POST Commission.
Sgt. Costa has a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Northeastern University.
“Vito has constantly shown himself to be a professional officer,” said Chief Browne. “He has always been thorough and has gained the trust and respect of his peers and supervisors through his work ethic and knowledge base. I am sure he will excel in his new position.”
Burlington MA, Police Department 