Upamanyu Biswas
In 2015, prison inmates Richard Matt and David Sweat staged an escape from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, with aid from members of the prison staff. As explored in Showtime’s ‘Escape at Dannemora,’ the prison break story is brought to life through an intricate thriller drama told from the perspective of key players in the plot. However, one of the few characters who is not supportive of the antics surrounding Matt and Sweat is Correctional Officer Dennis Lambert, who is also a friend of Joyce Mitchell’s husband, Lyle. He notices the unorthodox relationship blossoming between Joyce and the two prisoners, offering a different vantage point into the narrative.
Dennis Lambert is a Fictional Correctional Officer Privy to Joyce’s Dalliances With Inmates
While ‘Escape at Dannemora’ ostensibly builds its narrative around a true event, namely the 2015 Clinton Correctional Facility escape, parts of the story are fictionalized. As such, the character of Dennis Lambert fits into this category as he is a fictional creation with no seeming ties to any existing correctional officer serving in CCF at the time. The prison guard was conceived as a character by scriptwriters Brett Johnson and Michael Tolkin under the direction of Ben Stiller. He is one of the few people who seems vigilant about Joyce’s “inappropriate” behavior with certain inmates, especially how she treats them as friends and employees rather than prisoners. Eventually, he shares his doubts with Lyle, her husband, about her open interactions with members of the tailor shop.
Although the character is separated from reality to a large degree, there was a correctional officer with a similar name working at CCF in 2015, Dennis Lashway. According to an investigative report about the CCF escape by Inspector General Catherine Leahy-Scott, Lashway was responsible for collecting the count slips each morning while also opening various blocks and “unlocking” the prison. Incidentally, Lashway is a retiree today and is no longer part of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. However, the similarities between the two personalities are mostly confined to their names and do not bear any resemblance to their actual part in the events.
In some ways, Dennis Lambert provides a counterpoint and obstacle to the relationship between Joyce and the two prisoners. He is always wary of her liaisons with David Sweat in the backroom area of the tailor shop. After Sweat’s removal from the “Honor Block” section, Lambert witnesses how Matt gets closer to Joyce and even catches them on one occasion talking comfortably in the backroom. His loyalties are clearly sided more towards his friend Lyle and in upholding the discretion of the facility’s protocols. Unfortunately, despite his constant alertness, he is still too slow to catch on to shifting dynamics within the tailor shop as Joyce and Matt start plotting a prison break. Thus, even if Lambert plays a somewhat prominent role in the dramatized version of the story, the character does not exist in reality.
Read More: Joyce “Tilly” Mitchell: Where is the Former Prison Worker Now?
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