Crossword Genius

District about to be encapsulated by policeman in Court (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

precinct

'district' is the definition.
(precinct is a kind of district)

'about to be encapsulated by policeman in court' is the wordplay.
'about' becomes 're' (regarding**).
'to be encapsulated by' means one lot of letters goes inside another (I've seen this in other clues).
'policeman' becomes 'pc'.
'court' becomes 'ct'.
're' inserted inside 'pc' is 'prec'.
'prec'+'in'+'ct'='PRECINCT'

(Other definitions for precinct that I've seen before include "District of a city or town marked out for a particular purpose" , "American police division" , "Area around a cathedral or church" , "Area of US city" , "Shopping centre" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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