Crossword Genius

Directed police offensive (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

rancid

'offensive' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'directed police' is the wordplay.
'directed' becomes 'ran' (running is a kind of directing).
'police' becomes 'cid'.
'ran'+'cid'='RANCID'

(Other definitions for rancid that I've seen before include "Fetid" , "(Of butter) stale" , "(Of fats) stale" , "Sour - smelling bad" , "Like fat that's gone off" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian and The Telegraph.
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