Unsound female arrested by copper wasting time (9)
I believe the answer is:
defective
'unsound female arrested by copper wasting time' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'unsound female arrested by copper wasting time' is the wordplay.
'unsound female' becomes 'f' (common abbreviation. I am not sure about the 'unsound' bit.).
'arrested by' indicates putting letters inside (I've seen this in other clues).
'copper' becomes 'detective' (copper can informally mean a police officer).
'wasting' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'time' becomes 't' (abbreviation).
'detective' with 't' removed is 'deective'.
'f' put into 'deective' is 'DEFECTIVE'.
(Other definitions for defective that I've seen before include "insufficient" , "Flawed" , "Faulty" .)