Crossword Genius

Crime under control in the centre, I believe (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

theist

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

'i believe' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'crime under control in the centre' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'crime' could be 'heist' (heist is a kind of crime) and 'heist' is present in the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is found in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for theist that I've seen before include "Believer in the existence fo a god" , "Tithes for believer in God" , "Religious type" , "One who believe in a god" , "Tithes (anag.)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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