Sets up inexperienced detective for charges (5)
I believe the answer is:
wards
'charges' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'sets up inexperienced detective' is the wordplay.
'sets up' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'inexperienced' becomes 'raw' ('raw' can be similar in meaning to 'inexperienced'**).
'detective' becomes 'ds' (detective sergeant).
'raw' in reverse letter order is 'war'.
'war'+'ds'='WARDS'
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for wards that I've seen before include "Hospital divisions" , "Hospital rooms" , "Charges" .)