Found out detectives get protected (10)
I believe the answer is:
discovered
'found out' is the definition.
(discovering is a kind of finding out)
'detectives get protected' is the wordplay.
'detectives' becomes 'dis' (Detective Inspectors, DIs).
'get' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'protected' becomes 'covered' (covering is a kind of protecting).
'dis'+'covered'='DISCOVERED'
(Other definitions for discovered that I've seen before include "Unexpectedly found" , "Found during search" , "Was the first to observe" .)