No one truly doubts Captain Beatty's loyalty to the regime. The very idea that he could be some kind of traitor is simply too absurd to contemplate. Besides, Beatty's familiarity with works of forbidden literature makes him a valuable ally in the fight against books. He has the kind of inside knowledge into the mindset of your average book-reader that proves valuable to the authorities in rooting out subversives.
Having read and absorbed so much of what is no longer considered acceptable, Beatty is in the privileged position of poacher-turned-gamekeeper. Like former computer hackers hired by government departments and I.T. companies to improve their cybersecurity systems, the once well-read Beatty is used by the book-burning authorities to help them crack down on those who insist on keeping up this dangerously subversive habit.
During a conversation with Montag, Captain Beatty admits that he once pursued knowledge and read an extensive amount of literature, only to end up more confused and distraught than he was before he began reading. Captain Beatty goes on to tell Montag that attempting to understand the universe makes a man feel "bestial and lonely," which is why it is pointless to look toward literature for answers. Captain Beatty also tells Montag that he stopped attempting to search for meaning in books and found it much easier to destroy literature than to attempt to comprehend the endless amount of information regarding the universe and man's existence.
One could surmise that Captain Beatty's decision to burn novels instead of pursuing knowledge was the reason he was not arrested for reading books. The fact that he also tells Montag that it is policy to allow a fireman to read a book for a night before returning it the next day also explains why Captain Beatty was not arrested for reading books.
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