His career is a mix of “CSI” and “Criminal Minds” high-tech rip-offs, forensics, criminal psychology. And he has seen it from East Coast to West, from a small-city police department to the offices of two of the largest IT companies on earth.
Until early 2012, Steven DiNoto ’94, ’97 was manager of Apple’s Global Security Operations Center—before he was hired away by Amazon to serve as the company’s senior manager in charge of global business continuity. Prior to that, for 11 years, he was the chief administrative officer of the San Jose, Calif., Police Department.
The longer he’s spent in law enforcement, he says—earlier jobs included top-level administrative posts with the Malden, Lawrence and Middlesex County Police Departments—the clearer it has been to him that, when it comes to solving crime, or running departments, the big picture is nearly always the key.
“Initially, I was fascinated by the specialized roles that technology and forensic psychology could play in supporting investigations,” he says. “But [over time], I came to realize how much more important it is to have a holistic framework for things.”
His first job, before he was even out of graduate school, was with the Lowell Police Department, where he played a role in the development of the city’s crime analysis unit—a task that would serve him well in his next position, as Middlesex County deputy sheriff. From the time he left there, in 1999—only two years out of grad school—there would be nothing but top-level posts.
Much of the credit for this rise, says DiNoto, belongs with his UMass Lowell education.
“UMass Lowell was an amazing experience for me,” he says. “The professors were great at instructing relevant content, as well as relating real-world experience. In addition to being the best CJ professors in the nation, they were also very accessible to students.”
Especially inspirational to him, DiNoto says, were Criminal Justice Profs. Eve Buzawa and Larry Siegel. Both these professors, as well as others, he says, have served since as models of service that goes well beyond the classroom.
“They really reinforced the inherent value of helping as many people as you can. Throughout my career, I've tried to adhere to this basic but important principle.”