Policeman with an item of charge arresting male friend (9)
I believe the answer is:
companion
'friend' is the definition.
(I know that companion is a type of friend)
'policeman with an item of charge arresting male' is the wordplay.
'policeman' becomes 'cop' (slang term).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'item of charge' becomes 'ion' (ions are electrically charged).
'arresting' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'male' becomes 'm' (common abbreviation).
'cop'+'an'+'ion'='copanion'
'copanion' going around 'm' is 'COMPANION'.
(Other definitions for companion that I've seen before include "Ladder" , "person with whom one is travelling?" , "Fellow traveller" , "Intimate" , "One of a pair" .)