Steven Seagal trains Arizona school guards

Actor Steven Seagal is training volunteers in Arizona as part of a controversial plan to use armed guards to protect schools against shooting incidents.

Joe Arpaio, America's self-styled 'Toughest Sheriff', enlisted Seagal to teach guards how to patrol schools following the Newtown shootings in December. 

During the training at a school in Fountain Hills, a suburb northeast of Phoenix, children were used as stand-ins for students as Seagal, a martial arts expert, guided 48 volunteers through various response techniques.

"I am here to try to teach the posse firearms and martial arts to try to help them learn how to respond quicker and help protect our children," Seagal said, according to Reuters.

Arpaio's 3,450-strong posse of unpaid men and women have helped the authorities tackle crime for years, targeting drunken drivers, illegal immigrants and fathers who owe child support.

His tough stance on crime and illegal immigration have made him well-known across America.

Seagal has worked as a deputy for the Jefferson Parish sheriff in Louisiana, as covered in his reality show Steven Seagal: Lawman.