Police asked about taking in old toy (12)
I believe the answer is:
kaleidoscope
'toy' is the definition.
(I know that kaleidoscope is a type of toy)
'police asked about taking in old' is the wordplay.
'about' indicates an anagram.
'taking in' indicates putting letters inside.
'old' becomes 'o' (abbreviation).
'police'+'asked'='policeasked'
'policeasked' anagrammed gives 'kaleidoscpe'.
'kaleidoscpe' going around 'o' is 'KALEIDOSCOPE'.
(Other definitions for kaleidoscope that I've seen before include "Constantly changing pattern" , "ever-changing patterns" , "Optical pattern-making toy" , "Device showing coloured patterns" , "Toy making coloured patterns" .)