Strike a hooligan after the beginning of crime (5)
I believe the answer is:
clout
'strike' is the definition.
(I know that clout is a more specific form of the action strike)
'a hooligan after the beginning of crime' is the wordplay.
'a hooligan' becomes 'lout' (both can mean an aggressive person).
'after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'the beginning of' suggests taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'crime' is 'c'.
'lout' put after 'c' is 'CLOUT'.
(Other definitions for clout that I've seen before include "Cuff" , "A blow; powerful influence" , "Hit - influence" , "Bash" , "Sock" .)