Although he is a proficient marksman (secret until Beckett bets with him on the practice range), he works the cases wholly unarmed (with a few rare, isolated exceptions). While his status as a consultant generally allows him to participate in the 'fun' parts of detective work without worrying about the more tedious details such as paperwork, the team puts him in situations where the criminals request no police involvement, such as to drop off a ransom. Castle still requires official police authority to request information from various sources, and can only question witnesses under supervision.