Phoenix, AZ — Martial arts actor Steven Seagal will tomorrow help train 40 members of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s volunteer posse in school security.
The training session in a school in the Phoenix suburb of Fountain Hills will focus on how to respond to an event like the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting rampage according to Reuters :
“The training event will involve six instructors leading 40 armed volunteers through a simulated shooting on Saturday, with teenagers acting as students, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
“Seagal will lead the training run, focusing on various aspects of shooting scene management, including ‘entry room tactics and hand-to-hand tactics,’ according to Arpaio’s office.”
According to the LA Times , there have been several gun-related threats in Maricopa County schools recently, which prompted Sheriff Joe Arpaio to schedule the training session with Steven Seagal.
“The training will be ‘an active type of real scenario,’ [Sheriff Arpaio] said. “‘That’s how you learn.’ ”
“The posse will carry guns during the exercise, but they won’t be loaded.”
There are said to be 3,500 volunteers in the sheriff’s posse who provide various security activities including patrolling shopping malls during the Christmas season as well as helping track down criminal illegal aliens and deadbeat dads.
“I said to myself, ‘Hey, let’s transition the mall patrols to the schools,” Arpaio said. ‘The mission is to patrol the perimeter of the schools as a prevention measure.’ “
Steven Seagal is a 7th-dan black belt in the martial art Aikido. In addition to his many movies, many of which go direct to video, he also appeared in a law enforcement reality TV show. Seagal lives in the Phoenix area is a member of the Maricopa posse.
Do you think it’s a good idea for “America’s toughest sheriff” to have Steven Seagal train his posse? Do you think this training will be valuable or is it a publicity stunt?
[Image credit: Shutterstock ]
