Crossword Genius

Criminal invited cops as deterrent (12)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

disincentive

'deterrent' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'criminal invited cops as' is the wordplay.
'criminal' indicates an anagram.
'cops' indicates putting letters inside (inserted letters are caught or copped).
'as' becomes 'since' (both can mean 'because').
'invited' is an anagram of 'dintive'.
'dintive' placed around 'since' is 'DISINCENTIVE'.

(Another definition for disincentive that I've seen is " Damper".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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