8-K

                        SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

                               WASHINGTON D.C. 20549

                                      FORM 8-K

                              Current Report Pursuant

                           To Section 13 or 15(d) of the

                          Securities Exchange Act of 1934


Date of report (Date of earliest event reported)          December 20, 1999
                                                         (December 17, 1999)

     Protection One, Inc.               Protection One Alarm Monitoring, Inc.
  (Exact Name of Registrant                  (Exact Name of Registrant
   as Specified in Charter)                   as Specified in Charter)

          Delaware                                   Delaware
 (State or Other Jurisdiction               (State or Other Jurisdiction
      of Incorporation)                          of Incorporation)

          0-247802                                   33-73002-1
  (Commission File Number)                    (Commission File Number)

         93-1063818                                  93-1065479
      (I.R.S. Employer                            (I.R.S. Employer
     Identification No.)                         Identification No.)

600 Corporate Pointe, 12th Floor            600 Corporate Pointe, 12th Floor
  Culver City, California 90230               Culver City, California 90230
 (Address of Principal Executive             (Address of Principal Executive
  Offices, Including Zip Code)                Offices, Including Zip Code)

        (310) 342-6300                              (310) 342-6300
 (Registrant's Telephone Number,             (Registrant's Telephone Number,
     Including Area Code)                        Including Area Code)














Item 5.  Other Events

     On December 17, 1999 Protection One, Inc. announced Westar Capital, an
unregulated subsidiary of Western Resources, has acquired the debt and assumed
the lenders' obligations under Protection One's revolving credit facility.


Item 7.  Financial Statements and Exhibits

     (c) Exhibits

          Exhibit 99.1 - Press release dated as of December 17, 1999 issued by
     Western Resources, Inc. and Protection One, Inc.








































                                     SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, each
Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

                                         Protection One, Inc.

Date:   December 20, 1999                  By:  /s/ Anthony D. Somma
                                               Anthony D. Somma
                                            Chief Financial Officer



                                         Protection One Alarm Monitoring, Inc.

Date:   December 20, 1999                  By:  /s/ Anthony D. Somma
                                               Anthony D. Somma
                                            Chief Financial Officer

































                                EXHIBIT INDEX


Exhibit Number                           Description of Exhibit

99.1                                     Press release dated as of
                                         December 17, 1999 issued by
                                         Western Resources, Inc. and
                                         Protection One, Inc.

EX-99

                                                                  Exhibit 99.1

         WESTAR CAPITAL ASSUMES PROTECTION ONE LENDERS' OBLIGATIONS

     TOPEKA, Kansas, and CULVER CITY, California, Dec. 17, 1999, Protection
One (NYSE:POI) today announced Westar Capital, an unregulated subsidiary of
Western Resources (NYSE:WR), has acquired the debt and assumed the lenders'
obligations under Protection One's revolving credit facility.

     Protection One has received from Westar Capital under this revolving
credit facility an extension of the covenant waiver until January 15, 2000.
Westar Capital and Protection One also are negotiating the terms and
conditions of further waivers or amendments to the credit facility.
An independent committee has been established by Protection One's board to
consider Westar Capital's proposal to acquire Protection One's Continental
Europe operations and to negotiate the terms of any such transaction.

     Further, Protection One continues to examine other options including
selling assets to reduce debt and refinancing the credit facility.  For
further discussion of Protection One's credit facility, see its quarterly
report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 1999.

     Western Resources owns approximately 85 percent of Protection One, which
provides monitoring and related security services to more than 1.6 million
residential and commercial subscribers in North America and Europe.



     Western Resources (NYSE: WR) is a consumer services company with
interests in monitored services and energy. The company has total assets of
more than $8 billion, including security company holdings through ownership of
Protection One (NYSE: POI), which has more than 1.6 million security customers
in North America and Europe. Its utilities, KPL and KGE, provide electric
service to approximately 614,000 customers in Kansas. Through its ownership in
ONEOK Inc. (NYSE: OKE), a Tulsa-based natural gas company, Western Resources
has a 45 percent interest in the eighth largest natural gas distribution
company in the nation, serving more than 1.4 million customers. For more
information about Western Resources and its operating companies, visit us on
the Internet at http://www.wr.com.

     Protection One, one of the leading residential security alarm companies
in the United States, provides monitoring and related security services to
more than 1.6 million residential and commercial subscribers in North America
and Europe.

     Forward-Looking Statements: Certain matters discussed in this news
release are "forward-looking statements." The Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995 has established that these statements qualify for safe
harbors from liability. Forward-looking statements may include words like we
"believe", "anticipate," "expect" or words of similar meaning. Forward-looking
statements describe our future plans, objectives, expectations, or goals. Such
statements address future events and conditions concerning the consummation of
the possible asset sale and credit facility described in this press release,
capital expenditures, earnings, litigation, rate and other regulatory matters,
closing of the KCPL transaction, successful integration of Western Resources'
and KCPL's businesses and achievement of anticipated cost savings, the outcome
of accounting issues being reviewed by the SEC staff, possible corporate
restructurings, mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, liquidity and capital
resources, interest and dividend rates, year 2000 issue, environmental
matters, changing weather, nuclear operations, ability to enter new markets
successfully and capitalize on growth opportunities in nonregulated
businesses, events in foreign markets in which investments have been made, and
accounting matters. Our actual results may differ materially from those
discussed here. See the company's and Protection One's 1998 Annual Report on
Form 10-K and 10K/A, quarterly reports on Forms 10-Q and current reports on
Form 8K for further discussion of factors affecting the company's and
Protection One's performance.  Western Resources disclaims any obligation to
update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring
after the date of this news release. Other risks and uncertainties are
described in Protection One's 1998 Form 10-K/A filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission on June 2, 1999, and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed
on May 17, 1999, August 16, 1999 and November 12, 1999.  Protection One
disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result
of developments occurring after the date of this press release.

/CONTACT: Media: Michel' Philipp, news@wr.com, 785.575.1927, or fax:
785.575.6399, or Investors: Jim Martin, jim_martin@wr.com, 785.575.6549, or
fax: 785.575.8160, both of Western Resources/

Media: Robin Lampe, 785.575.6468, or fax 785.575.6511, or Investors: Adam
Goldston, 310.258.6502, or fax 310.342.6382, both of Protection One