But while health and occupational safety issues limit the role of local laws officers, there will be no such restraint on private security guards.

A successful trial of private guards could see a revamp of the local laws function of council employees.

The council last month agreed to spend close to $1million to hire eight security guards to patrol streets, beaches and the railway station.

The decision to run a trial prompted the city's top police officer, Superintendent Wayne Taylor, to call a news conference to play down fears of a crime wave.

He said policing was "far more complicated than just walking around the streets".

"I would say to Frankston Council: be careful what you have these people doing."

Cr Kris Bolam last week said the council was "pumping out more enforcement-based laws than the state government".

The architect of the private security guards plan, Cr Bolam said on Thursday he was "not out to sack anyone" but predicted the council would "consider the option of expanding the [private] security service

and looking at the bylaws process".

He said the council's local laws officers would not tell people to stop drinking alcohol "due to the presumption drinkers will attack them physically or verbally".

He predicted a proposed smoking ban in some parts of the CBD "will come in the same category as alcohol".

Cr Bolam said it was the constraints imposed by local laws officers that had led him to recommend hiring private guards instead of expanding the council's local laws department.

Private security guards would have no occupational safety and health constraints and would be able to actively enforce all council bylaws, not just the safe ones administered by local laws officers.

"We may as well employ people who are prepared to deal with those type of people, and that's the private security guards. When us new councillors came on to the council we found out about the situation and knew it wasn't right.

"The alternative was to sack the by-laws officers. We're effectively outsourcing [some of] the bylaws function to private security."

Cr Bolam was wary of offending council staff and said it would be best for councillors "to reconsider where we stand with bylaws officers after seeing how the model works".