We should remember that the death rate for ASTroopers in the line of duty is fairly low compared to other professions, other State employees, and that many of those other deaths are also "on the job".   Is it requiring an employee to go into a dangerous/deadly situation to ask they use small aircraft to commute to workplace [the leading cause of AST on-duty deaths]?  One can get carried away romanticizing a highly emotional ideal, Not a good place to make sound financial decisions from. 
It is a sad, difficult situation for any family that loses a member, but that the individuals did this job or that, or were too young to have a profession, really doesn't make the suffering greater or less, nor the survivors "more [or less] deserving" than others.  This woman should meditate upon all the families who will never know how or why their loved one died in DOC custody, those that have no justice because AST 'assumed' a cause and refused to investigate - and appreciate her better treatment.