Methodical start by the police (3)

I believe the answer is:

met

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'the police' is the definition.
(I've seen this in other clues)

'methodical start by' is the wordplay.
'start' says to take the initial letters.
'by' becomes 'et' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
The initial letter of 'methodical' is 'm'.
'm'+'et'='MET'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for met that I've seen before include "Bumped into" , "Came across - police in London" , "Came together, encountered" , "Encountered pro tem" , "Encountered, came into contact" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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