Intervenes in measure to confront crime (5,2)
I believe the answer is:
steps in
'intervenes' is the definition.
('step in' can be a synonym of 'intervene')
'measure to confront crime' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'measure' could be 'step' (step is a kind of measure) and 'step' is found in the answer.
'crime' could be 'sin' and 'sin' is located in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'in' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for steps in that I've seen before include "Intervenes" , "Takes over" .)