Mexican Police Hit the Books With the Help of Radio Codes

Police officers Marco Antonio Molina Tolentino, left, and Luis Alberto Campos Tellez check out their copies of "One Hundred Years of Solitude" before attempting to translate Chapter 1 into radio code during a class in Nezahualcoyotl. (By Manuel Roig-franzia -- The Washington Post)
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"First they 26 the imam," he wrote. "A 40 gypsy, heavyset with a coarse beard, presented himself to the 62 of Melquiades."

Molina Tolentino looked up and grinned.

"Not bad," he said.

Birth of a Bookworm

Molina Tolentino lingered after class. A police officer for the past six years, he was one of the veterans in the room. At 38, he's like an older brother to the 20-somethings.

Since beginning the reading program, Molina Tolentino has become a bit of a bookworm. He'd always liked words, but now he devours them. Not long ago, he tackled "The Underdogs," Mariano Azuela's celebrated 1915 novel of the Mexican Revolution.

Yet he wasn't satisfied. Now, after work, he has taken to poring over law books. In his spare time, he is inching toward a law degree.

But he still appreciates what he calls "the economic" nature of the language he uses on the police radio and, frequently, just chatting with his colleagues.

Not long ago, he said, he wanted to invite a fellow officer to dinner.

" I said, 'Do you want to 35 at my 94?' "

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