I agree that NYPD is a fine organization. There are thousands, if not tens of thousands of cops in NY, and my concern is that a laptop in evidence storage is vulnerable to an organization like the clowns being able to find their way to it. If it was given to the FBI, I have no confidence in the security of their custodianship of the laptop.
The chain of custody is briefly described more in #1292. It should add more info to help get closer to some answers:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3675845/posts?page=1292#1292