Officer Barbrady isn't the first incompetent cop portrayed on TV, but he may be the dumbest. He can't seem to do anything right and frequently overlooks evidence connecting someone obvious to the crime. There's also the fact that canonically he's illiterate, which would likely disqualify anyone from holding that position. On top of that, Redditor u/ttmlkr points out, "Barbrady wears a big misshapen police badge (looks like it could've been made by him) and runs his entire operation out of little tiny building."
A lot of other "South Park" fans agree that it feels like Barbrady got his position out of pity than competence. While it may require more investigating, another Redditor has another piece of evidence that could lend credence to the theory, "If I'm not mistaken, I don't think we've ever actually seen him fire his gun before... It very well could be a fake or a toy." After all, if the town is going to let someone play police, they wouldn't want him to have an actual gun where he could legitimately hurt someone.
Of course, all this gets called into question with Season 19's "Naughty Ninjas." The episode brings a more depressing lens to Barbrady's life, where he only wanted to be a police officer so that he could feel needed and care for his elderly dog. It was a chance to bring more gravitas to a one-note character, and hopefully, he returns in future episodes to prove he can be more than the butt of a joke.
