Will Young, 19, remains in the Alfred Hospital after suffering serious injuries, including a bleed to the brain, after he was allegedly punched and kicked while on the ground unconscious by two men in Dean Street.

Former Albury superintendent Beth Stirton told The Border Mail violence was inappropriate with or without the influence of alcohol.

"I don't condone any of that violence in any way, shape or form," she said.

"Everybody has to be responsible for their own behaviour - not drink to excess and not do these things."

She officially retired as Albury's top cop in 2017, but had been one of the advocates for the CCTV cameras that are now installed in the city.

The alleged attack on Mr Young was captured by the cameras and the case will be brought before the courts after two men were charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Although some people have questioned if CCTV can prevent crime, Ms Stirton said she hopes that they can.

"When you've got people full of grog they don't care what they do, some of them, but it does very much help to identify those people and stop them in their tracks from doing it again in the future," she said.

"That has been implemented now and that really assists heaps in identifying offenders and stopping them from further perpetrating.

"It's a good tool that they use."

Sitting by the hospital bed of a child who has been bashed without provocation is familiar for Chris Callesen, whose son Michael - who was also 19 years old at the time - suffered a fractured jaw when he was punched at a Lavington party.

"Seeing the picture of that kid (Mr Young) in the hospital, it did bring back memories," he said.

"I hope this time around, the family might be able to see more justice."

Mr Callesen said the four months that Michael's attacker served on remand before being placed on probation was not enough and if courts continued to hand down "soft" sentences, victims' families could take matters into their own hands.

"When they system doesn't bring justice ... people are getting to that point where they are going to start lashing out," he said.

He does not blame the police, saying their hands are tied by the justice system, but wants to see better morals instilled in young people who think it is OK to hit others.

Albury mayor Kevin Mack said it was time for community leaders to again ramp up the message that violence is not OK, after the "terrible" attack on Mr Young.

"It's not good enough, we need to take a stand and do something about it ... He doesn't deserve that - no one deserves that," he said.

"I just think it's really sad that cowards like that do what they do, because they feel like they can."

The mayor advocated for starting to talk more about the violence that can occur late at night in Albury and Wodonga, and the impact it has both on victims and their loved ones.

"The liquor accord and all the other stakeholders are working as hard as they can to eliminate drinking, but it's the drug-taking that's the problem," Cr Mack said.

"Dean Street has been relatively safe for a while, but you only need one of these and someone dies."

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