Burlington Police Promotes Two of its Own

The hearing room at Town Hall was packed with members of the Burlington Police Department, their families, and members of the Fire Department during the Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday.

The crowd was gathered to honor retired police Lt. Walter Bevis and to witness two accommodations for the work officers performed in the line of duty.

There were also two promotions of members of the department at the recommendation of Police Chief Michael Kent. Town Administrator John Petrin promoted Thomas Browne to Lieutenant and Kevin Cooney to Sergeant. The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to waive the 15-day waiting period that is standard for promotions and new hires.

Check out our videos of the promotions above.

From the Burlington Police Department:

Thomas P. Browne is 40 years old.  He is a graduate of Burlington High School with the Class of 1990.  He grew up in Burlington; the son of James F. Browne, Jr. and Margaret Browne.  He has three brothers and three sisters; all three of his brothers serve with the Burlington Fire Department.

Lt. Browne has been a police officer since March of 1993 having served part-time for the Hampton, NH Police Department and then full-time for the Hudson, NH Police Department.  He left the Hudson Police as a Sergeant in order to come back to his home town of Burlington in 2001.

Since joining the Burlington Police Department, he has served a Patrolman, Drug Detective, Patrol Sergeant, Prosecutor and Detective Sergeant.  He is also currently the department’s field training program coordinator and Accreditation Manager.  He is also a licensed attorney in Massachusetts having been admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 2010.

Lt. Browne resides in Burlington with his wife, Michelle – a registered nurse at Mass. General Hospital, and their three daughters; Katelyn 8, Megan 6 and Jillian 4. 

Kevin Cooney is 47 Years old.  Sgt. Cooney grew up in Burlington and is the son of Mary and the late Kevin Cooney. He is a graduate of Burlington High School with the class of 1983; Sergeant Cooney received a degree in Criminal Justice from Hesser College in Nashua New Hampshire in 2005. 

Sgt. Cooney started his policing career in 1989 with the Pepperell Police Department before coming to the Burlington Police Department in May of 1993. Since 1999 Sgt. Cooney has been assigned to the traffic division.   Sgt. Cooney is a certified USDOT Commercial Motor Vehicle Inspector and crash re-constructionist along with many other specialized courses that he has taken over the years.

Sgt. Cooney resides in Dunstable with his wife Darlene and their three daughters; Katherine, Stephanie and Lindsay.