Crossword Genius

Assumption made by head of police failing in duty (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

premiss

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'assumption' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'head of police failing in duty' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'failing' could be 'remiss' (I've seen this before) and 'remiss' is found in the answer.
A single letter 'p' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'made by' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for premiss that I've seen before include "Assumption" , "It's assumed" , "Proposition" , "A condition stipulated beforehand" , "piece of logic" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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