The Hanover Township Trustees Office along with the Cedar Lake Fire Department and the St. John Fire Department would like to offer a residential key box program for the residents of Hanover Township and Cedar Lake.

This program involves installing a residential key box to an occupant's main entrance to their residence. The key box is really a key safe (similar to a realtors key box) which attaches to, or near the main entry door. Each box will have its own individual code, which will be kept on file with Emergency dispatch services for easy access to your key, by Police and Fire Departments.

If you are a resident living alone or perhaps just happen to be home alone and you were to have a medical emergency, let's say you fall, break a bone, experience a diabetic emergency or a stroke or have just fallen and cannot get up or for whatever reason cannot unlock the door, emergency services will have a way to access your home.

If you have a Lifeline emergency device or a cell phone, you can call 911 for help. When the Fire or Police departments arrive at your residence, if you do NOT have a key box, the responders are going to check every door or window looking for a means to gain entry. If no doors or windows are accessible, firefighters are going to force entry into your home causing damage which you or your insurance company will be responsible for repairing. This process could also take as much as 5 minutes or more to accomplish, 5 minutes that you may not have to spare. Now let's imagine that you have the same emergency, however, you have a key box attached to your home. As the firefighters or police officers are dispatched to your home, the dispatcher has a record of your key code and is relaying this information to the Officer in charge. The Officer in charge will access your key box, retrieve the key and use it to immediately access your door, to provide possible life saving care

All residents of Cedar Lake and Hanover Township are eligible to participate in the key box program. You can participate in the key box program with a one time, $35.00 fee. This fee covers the purchase of the key box and we will install it for free. If you are in need of assistance to purchase a key box please contact our office to see if qualify. The installation only takes a few minutes and can usually be scheduled within a day or two of calling. Make sure you have a spare key to put in the box.

If you or a family member are interested in purchasing a key box, call the Hanover Township Trustees office at (219) 374-7443. Our office hours are Monday through Friday 9:00am to 3:00pm.