Crossword Genius

Hoard coppers? They might stop people nicking them (5,10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

store detectives

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'nicking them' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'hoard coppers? they might stop people' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'hoard' could be 'store' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'store' is present in the answer.
'people' could be 'detectives' (detective is a kind of person) and 'detectives' is present in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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