Some call it one of the trickiest jobs in the country. How do you stop the small boats trying to cross the English Channel and smash the smuggling gangs?

The government has appointed Martin Hewitt to the role- he’s leading the UK’s new border security command. It’s a tough job, so can he do it?

Martin Hewitt is a former senior police officer and chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council. He is also the man who oversaw the policing of Covid lockdowns.

Mark Coles has been speaking to some of his colleagues, former colleagues and the journalists who reported on him.

ContributorsTim Smith - Chief Constable, Kent PoliceDanny Shaw - Former BBC CorrespondentFestus Akinbusoye - Former Police and Crime Commissioner for BedfordshireRuth Turner - Senior Director at the Forward Institute Dal Babu – Former Chief Superintendent in the Metropolitan PoliceVikram Dodd - Guardian Police and Crime Correspondent

Production teamProducers: Farhana Haider, Ben Morris, Ben Cooper, Michaela GraichenEditor: Richard VadonSound: Gareth JonesProduction Co-ordinators: Sabine Schereck and Maria Ogundele