Capt. Mike Savard's attorney says paying fellow officers to retire early is common in CPD

Capt. Mike Savard's attorney claims it's common within Cincinnati Police for an officer seeking a promotion to pay a higher-ranking one to retire early and says his client is being unfairly singled out for federal bribery and theft charges. "The thing that he's accused of is something that goes on all the time in the Cincinnati Police Department and has been going on in police departments across the country for a long time, and no one has questioned it before," attorney Christopher McDowell told WCPO's I-Team on Tuesday. Savard, a 25-year CPD veteran, retired from the department Monday, McDowell said. In a statement, Savard said: "After 26 years as a police officer with the Cincy PD and 31 years in law enforcement overall, I feel horrible that I have to go out like this."