Hey if they are really smart and want to get into the system, maybe they can play it dumb for a few years and then just own everything :D. Anyways that is how it goes in most of the world, as @thelightreports said, the people suited for the job are repelled by the others there hogging all the "authority".

The days of the local sheriff upholding the law for everybody are long past, nowadays politics are into law enforcement as much as it was in the medieval times, so serving the people is as stupid as not taking taxes and disobeying the count.

Good police officers are being flung all the trash since they can take it, if they can't great, power gets distributed towards less people, so the "rulers" rule more :D and having people that won't ask question and believe whatever you "spell" at them are a good addition to any ruling class.