Residents took action at Town Meeting Saturday to allow Duxbury’s police chief to restructure his department.

Voters approved Article 9, which removed the position of deputy police chief from civil service, a merit system under which state and municipal employees may be hired and promoted. Chief Matthew Clancy requested this action so he could both have a second-in-command and choose his new deputy chief from a wider applicant pool than allowed by civil service.

The police department has not had a deputy chief in many years. Instead, there have been three lieutenants in the chain of command under the chief. Currently, there are two lieutenants as the third recently retired. The base salary of a deputy chief is less than that of a long-tenured lieutenant and is expected to save the town money.