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Retired agent Craig Arnold served in the FBI for 22 years.
In this episode, he reviews two shooting incidents he was involved in, one which resulted in saving the life of an FBI informant and another where, during a fatal shootout, he saved the life of a cooperating witness by taking the life of a subject.
He received training to become a certified peer support counselor. He traveled all over the country to speak with and offer support to other FBI agents and police officers involved in shooting incidents.
As the recipient of the FBI Medal of Valor, the FBI’s highest honor, and two FBI Shields of Bravery, Craig was a member of the FBI’s Honorary Medals selection panel.
Initially assigned to the Jackson Division, Greenville Resident Agency, two-man RA in Mississippi, where he worked criminal matter. He was shortly after transferred to the New York Division where is worked on a drug task force with the NYPD, until he received an office of preference transfer to the Kansas City field office where he was assigned to a Gang Task Force gang for two years and then a Violent Crime Fugitive Task Force, working with task force officers from the Kansas City Police Department for eight years until his retirement. He was a SWAT Team Operator and a SWAT Team Leader in Kansas City and New York.
At the time of his retirement, Craig was one of the most highly decorated agents in the Bureau’s history.
The following is a list of Craig Arnold’s FBI and Law Enforcement Awards:
FBI Medal of Valor 1997
FBI Shield of Bravery 1992
FBI Shield of Bravery 1994 (Group Award)
Director’s Award for Criminal Investigation 1996
Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association Valor Award 1997
International Narcotic Enforcement Officers Association Medal of Valor 1997
Kansas City Metropolitan Chiefs & Sheriffs Association Valor Award (Gold) 1997
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund Officer of the Month Award (November 1998)
Special Agent (Retired)
Craig Arnold
9/6/1983 – 12/31/2005
“In a slow motion I see him with his weapon turning toward me to engage me. I’m thinking to myself, you better be quick about this or something bad is going to happen to you and the source.”—Retired Agent Craig Arnold
The following are links to news articles and a surveillance video of the fatal Kansas City shooting incidents:
Getty Images (VIDEO) – 1/30/1997: Video of Fatal Kansas City Shooting Incident
Kansas City Star – 2/28/1997: Video shows drug-sting shootings
Kansas City Star – FBI Honors two local officers
Listen to these additional FBI Retired Case File Review interviews with FBI Medal of Valor recipients involved in shooting incidents:
Episode 118: Ed Mireles – Fatal FBI Miami Shootout (Part 1)
Episode 119: Ed Mireles – Fatal FBI Miami Shootout (Part 2)
Episode 161: Jim Sweeney and Rich Macko – Broad Street Shootout
Episode 267: John Kuchta – 1994 DC Police Headquarters Shootout
The Honorary Medals Program – From the FBI Website
The FBI created the Honorary Medals Program in 1989 to recognize exceptional acts by FBI agents and professional support personnel, as well as other law enforcement officers working with the Bureau. The program features five honorary medals, and the FBI Memorial Star, presented to a surviving relative where death has occurred in the line of duty as the direct result of an adversarial action. These medals are among the highest honors in the FBI.
The FBI Star is awarded for serious injury sustained in the direct line of duty from physical confrontation with criminal adversaries, an injury inflicted by weapons, gunshot wounds inflicted in the line of duty, or an injury so severe that it would require hospitalization, substantial emergency room treatment, or significant medical treatment for a sustained period of time.
The FBI Medal for Meritorious Achievement is awarded for extraordinary and exceptional meritorious service in a duty of extreme challenge and great responsibility, extraordinary and exceptional achievements in connection with criminal or national security cases, or a decisive, exemplary act that results in the protection or the direct saving of life in severe jeopardy in the line of duty.
The FBI Shield of Bravery is presented for brave and courageous acts occurring in the line of duty or within the scope of FBI employment, which may extend to major assistance to a task force or undercover operation, grave situations, or crisis confrontations associated with the highest priority cases of the FBI.
The FBI Medal of Valor is presented in recognition of an exceptional act of heroism or voluntary risk of personal safety and life, and this act must have occurred in the direct line of duty or within the scope of FBI employment and in the face of criminal adversaries.
The FBI Memorial Star is presented to a surviving relative where death has occurred in the line of duty.
