For this, ultimate of cops gets hot food to eat later? (8)
I believe the answer is:
stakeout
'for this ultimate of cops gets hot' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'food to eat later?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'food' could be 'takeout' (takeout food is a kind of food) and 'takeout' is found within the answer.
A single letter 's' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for stakeout that I've seen before include "Secret surveillance by police" , "Put under surveillance - like statue, OK?" , "watch closely" , "Informally, place under surveillance - using sharp stick?" , "Police surveillance assignment" .)