Is it bragging if you can document what you say you can do?

Whenever I have talked about what I could do, I have felt like I was bragging or blowing my own horn. A few months back there was a police officer job open up in my home town that I was encouraged to apply for, so I did.

As a part of the back ground check I had to provide documentation of what I have done in the past 10 years, especially if the experiences were to be considered for the application. When I turned in the State of Alaska policeman's background check packet along with the application, I also had to include copies of certificate, etc that I have claimed. My training documentation was about twice the size of the application packet.

Despite my being the highest qualified applicant, I was not selected for the job, on the mere appearance of favoritism, my step father was mayor at the time. I heard later on that apart of the nepotism issue that was floating around town about that time, having a cousin as a direct supervisor and a step brother as a fellow officer would have appeared as favoritism as well. To me, I fail to see how, the job was advertised, many applied, if I was the highest qualified candidate, why should it matter who my relatives are?