Re: More accurately...
"Police forces (excluding Manchester and the Met) don't cover much up at all, certainly not at the lower ranks."
Who said anything about "Covering up"?
I'm just going on the actually discovered violations
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8713194/Hundreds-of-police-officers-caught-illegally-accessing-criminal-records-computer.html
Looks like 79% wrist slapping, so I'll stand by the "likely" outcome.
And it seems the senior officers suspect it's happening a lot more than is being caught or reported.
But maybe they just don't trust the police eh?