Nabilla Passes Akpol Selection on Third Attempt: 'Everything Has a Process'

Nabilla Syafitri Hannas Tasya, 20, is the sole female candidate from the Bengkulu Regional Police to pass the central selection for the Police Academy (Akpol) for the 2026 academic year. Despite failing twice before, Nabilla believes in the process. “Life is indeed unpredictable. I thought I would pass in my first year (the 2024 selection), but it took three attempts to be accepted as a cadet,” Nabilla said at the Akpol Cendikia Auditorium in Semarang, Central Java, on Monday (27/7/2026).

Nabilla recounted that during the 2024 Akpol selection, she was eliminated during the second stage of the health examination at the regional level. A year later, she tried again for the 2025 selection but faced the bitter reality of being eliminated once more during the final regional determination session. “Every time I failed, I looked at where my shortcomings were. After that, I trained harder,” she said. On her first attempt, she ranked third at the regional level. The following year, she rose to second place. Finally, in the 2026 Akpol selection, Nabilla succeeded in achieving first place out of 16 female candidates in her region.

“From my participation in the 2024, 2025, and 2026 selections, nothing was instant. Everything was gradual, there was a process, and there was improvement,” she stated. The daughter of a car mechanic said she realised from the start that each Akpol selection participant has their own strengths. Because of this, she did not force herself to chase high scores in every test material. “I didn’t really chase the physical test scores because I knew that wasn’t my strength. So I focused on achieving high scores in psychology and academics,” she said. Nabilla explained that she mapped out the target scores she needed to achieve to be able to compete with other participants. “I targeted my psychology and academic scores to be at a certain level so that I wouldn’t be overtaken by other candidates. So I mapped out my own abilities,” Nabilla said.

The second of three siblings also admitted that she never paid attention to negative comments about the recruitment process for police personnel. According to her, her experiences in 2024 and 2025 were enough to convince her that the selection process is transparent, fair, and free. “I never thought about the selection costing anything because I heard from previous years that even for those who pass the central selection, all costs are borne by the committee. Even here, I wasn’t charged anything because meals and other things were provided, so there were no costs at all,” Nabilla said. “The stereotype still exists. Many people think that entering Akpol is not free. But I don’t have to debate with people. I am sure that entering the police force is free because I have participated in the first, second, and third selections. There was never any demand for payment, no discrimination, and no costs charged to me,” she added.