Good Question: How Secure Is Our Border With Canada?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- At more than 5,500 miles, the Unites States - Canada border is the longest continuous international border.
Three-hundred-thousand people cross it legally every day at more than 100 checkpoints.
But just how secure is the border?
The man accused of the shooting in Ottawa Wednesday crossed into Minnesota twice by car last year.
Officials say Michael Joseph Zehaf-Bibeau shot and killed a Canadian soldier before firing several shots inside Parliament.
Zehaf-Bibeau is a Canadian citizen, which makes it easier to cross into the U.S. from our northern neighbor.
Dr. William Beeman is a professor of Middle East anthropology at the University of Minnesota.
"The idea that you need some kind of huge military operation or building walls along the border in order to contain what are isolated incidents is, I think, overkill," Beeman said.
Since 2007, Americans and Canadians have required passports to cross. But there are still many points of the border that are porous.
"There's supposed to be border patrols that actually control for those kinds of things," he said.
Border patrol keeps quiet about its security, only saying, "It takes a number of measures seen and unseen."
Professor Beeman suggests focusing on other kinds of defense.
"That is why you need effective police action, you need effective intelligence to try and identify these individuals before they become a problem," he said.
An official with the Department of Homeland Security, which houses the U.S. Border Patrol, says there is heightened awareness at some of the checkpoints.
He also said the department is continuing to monitor the evolving situation.