The measure of crime (5)
I believe the answer is:
theft
'crime' is the definition.
(theft is a kind of crime)
'the measure' is the wordplay.
'measure' becomes 'ft' (ft is a kind of measure).
'the'+'ft'='THEFT'
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for theft that I've seen before include "Robbery" , "Illegal act of taking" , "Misappropriation" , "Act of stealing" , "crime incident" .)